


Safe Harbor

by ZoneRobotnik



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, alternate ending to "On the Run"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoneRobotnik/pseuds/ZoneRobotnik
Summary: With no way to get the scroll to Rapunzel, Varian calls Rapunzel to come and collect it from his lab. Rapunzel decides to collect something else from Old Corona, as well: Varian himself.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 174
Kudos: 185





	1. Saved?

**Author's Note:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Rapunzel came. He couldn’t believe it, she was here. He saw her coming and quickly hid before they saw him anywhere near her, hiding under the town in the black rocks. He gasped when they started glowing around him and realized that she must be right above him. How he longed to reach out, to call to them, tell them he was here…  
  
But, he couldn’t. The memory of a blade against his neck was so prevalent, too sharp, and he stayed quiet, watching and slowly following along as black rocks here and there lit up with Rapunzel getting too close to them.  
  
It was…fascinating to watch. He made his way to where his house would be and carefully made his way out, watching as she entered his home. He stepped out to go in after her, but a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back and he was held still as one of them went in after her, instead. He sighed as he was roughly pulled away and shoved behind a building.  
  
“Hey!” He heard Eugene yell, and then the man that was holding his arm was hit with a....frying pan? Frying pans were weapons now?  
  
He groaned as he fell and Varian rubbed at his sore arm, staring in disbelief. A hand on his shoulder drew his gaze back up and Eugene was looking him over. “Are you okay?”  
  
Varian’s brow furrowed and he pulled back. “W-What are you _doing_ here? Haven’t you heard? I’m _dangerous_!”  
  
“Eugene! Let’s go!” Rapunzel called as she ran out with Cassandra, one of the masked men chasing them.  
  
“Come on!” Eugene took Varian’s wrist and pulled him along. Ruddiger ran up and followed at his heels as Varian was pulled into the black rock forest by Eugene.   
  
“They won’t lose them in here!” He told them, surprising Rapunzel and Cassandra with his voice. “They’ve been chasing me through this thing for weeks!”  
  
“They’ve been _what_?!” Rapunzel looked at him.   
  
“Rapunzel!” He cried in alarm as a sword swung out of the darkness. Rapunzel used her hair to block it and hit the guy with another frying pan before they ran on. “Did you just hit him with a cooking utensil?!”  
  
“Frying pans are _great_ weapons!” Eugene said, then gasped as they came out on the other side to find a whole group of masked men blocking their way.   
  
“Hand over the kid and the graphtych and go home, Princess.” The leader said, and Varian cringed, hiding behind Eugene. His hand loosed on his wrist and he gasped as his hand was taken instead, held in a firm, reassuring grip.  
  
“How about we don’t do either of those things?” Rapunzel suggested, putting the graphtych into her bag. “Max!” She called, and then the horse came over as Cassandra and Rapunzel engaged them in a fight.   
  
Eugene pulled Varian along as he blocked a sword with his own and then ran to Maximus, where he lifted Varian onto the saddle and whistled. “Girls!” He called, as Ruddiger jumped up into Varian’s lap and climbed up around his shoulders.  
  
Rapunzel climbed on behind Varian and Eugene and Cassandra ran on foot as they fled the ruined town. Varian looked over his shoulder as they escaped into the woods, the men in hot pursuit with more coming out of the tree-line.  
  
“We’ll never make it to the castle.” He said anxiously.  
  
“We’re not _going_ to the castle.” Rapunzel said, pulling on Maximus’ reins to get him to go a certain direction. “Eugene! The grove!”  
  
“I gotcha!” Eugene said as he and Cassandra knocked back a few pursuers. “We’ll meet you there!”  
  
Varian leaned back a bit into Rapunzel as she took them to an unknown location. They went through hanging vines and a tunnel before coming out at a tower with black rocks around the bottom.  
  
“Come on.” She rode Maximus over and then got off, helping Varian down, before they went through an entrance at the back and climbed up to a trapdoor. They heard someone coming up after them, but a quick glance down told them that it was just Eugene and Cassandra.  
  
“I think we threw them off the scent.” Eugene said as they climbed out one by one; Varian first, followed by Rapunzel, Cassandra and Eugene. Then the horse came through and closed the trapdoor after him.  
  
“Right…” Rapunzel nodded, running her hands through her hair. “Okay, then.” She turned to Varian and he gasped as she hugged him. “Thank goodness we were there!” She gently held his shoulders, looking at him anxiously. “I got your letter, and the graphtych. Why didn’t you mention the men attacking you, though?! That was the more _important_ part!”  
  
He shook his head. “No, no, I’m not _half_ as important as that graphtych.” He assured her, then winced as his stomach rumbled.  
  
“Oh! You’re probably hungry, huh?” She went to the kitchen area while the others looked around.  
  
“Is this…hair?” Cassandra asked, nudging at something on the ground.  
  
“Uh-huh!” Rapunzel said, looking over something in the cupboards. “Yeah, these are still good. Should be able to make something.”  
  
“Maybe we shouldn’t do any cooking. We don’t want anyone to see the smoke and—”  
  
“If _that_ was a concern, I would have been rescued from here _years_ ago.” Rapunzel said flatly.  
  
Varian’s eyes widened and he took a proper look around. “Wait…this is _that_ tower?” He asked, looking at the painted murals on the wall in awe.  
  
“Uh-huh.” Her affirmation was less enthusiastic this time.  
  
“Yeah, hey, look over here. Here’s where I died!” Eugene said cheerfully, pointing to the floor. “And that armoire over there was where she hid me after knocking me out with her frying pan. And over here is where I woke up tied to a chair by her hair.”  
  
“Are you okay?” Cassandra walked over to Varian. “You’ve been rubbing at your arm. Nervous tic, or…?”  
  
He glanced away. “I’m fine.”  
  
She frowned and grabbed his shoulder, yanking up his sleeve before he could stop her, letting out a hiss at the blue and purple bruising from being roughly handled by the man. “You are _not_ fine.”  
  
“It’s not like it’s the _worst_ they’ve _done_ to me!” He jerked away, then froze. Shoot. He didn’t want to tell them about that.  
  
“…How long have they been attacking you?” Eugene asked, walking towards him.  
  
“…A week after the storm. A week after the rumors started.” Varian admitted.  
  
“Rumors?” Rapunzel looked over from setting a fire in the fireplace. “What rumors?”  
  
“Well…a lot of them, really, but the first one was that I attacked you the night I came to the castle to find you. And it’s just…there have been more.” Varian frowned. “You didn’t know?”  
  
“No.” Rapunzel shook her head. “Eugene? Cass? Did you know about this?” She looked at them, then Maximus. “Max?”  
  
Pascal looked as confused and concerned as she did. Ruddiger patted Varian’s cheek soothingly and he sighed, walking over to sit in a chair.  
  
“Do you have anything to treat wounds here?” Cassandra asked, walking over to the cupboards.  
  
“Yeah, I’ll get that. Can you get the fire?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“On it.” Cassandra said, getting to work.  
  
Eugene walked over and knelt in front of Varian’s chair. “Kid…I saw your dad.”  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
“What happened there?” Eugene’s brow furrowed.  
  
“I-It was an accident.” Varian said numbly. “I was trying to find out how to get rid of the black rocks, and…and then they started to change after I tried something new. But…they changed into amber…and then my dad suddenly pushed me out of the way and then his arm was caught. I-I ran for help…but no one…no one helped me, not Rapunzel, not **_anyone_**. I came back and he was c-completely encased. If I’d gotten the help I went for, we could have saved him!” Fury brought tears to his eyes and he clenched his fists.  
  
Ruddiger stroked his cheek with his paw soothingly and Eugene took one of his shaking hands in his.  
  
“Varian…” He sighed. “It was an accident. You couldn’t have known.”  
  
“If the King would have helped us, then I wouldn’t have had to try to solve the problem.” Varian said coldly, his head bowed so Eugene couldn’t see his eyes. “Instead…everyone evacuated after the storm, left Corona entirely, and then th-the _men_ came in to keep me _contained_.”  
  
“My father told me all was well, that he’d sent people to take care of the problem.” Rapunzel walked over to Varian with medical supplies. “Varian, I’m _so sorry_ I didn’t get here sooner. Here, let me treat your wound.”  
  
He glanced at her and sighed, pulling up his sleeve so it was out of the way while she tended to it. “Do you have any other wounds?” She asked.  
  
“No…not anymore.” He mumbled. “They’ve all healed.”  
  
“How often do they hurt you?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Only if I disobey. If I’m not trying to run away or approach you, Princess, they usually leave me alone and just watch.”  
  
“’Run away’?” Rapunzel frowned as she carefully treated his bruises.  
  
“The King wanted me kept in town, for whatever reason. Wouldn’t let me kill myself, either.” He mumbled.  
  
"Ki--" Eugene stammered.  
  
“My father?!” She gasped.  
  
Varian nodded. “’By order of the King’, they said. Whoever those men are, they work for the King.” He rubbed at his eyes.  
  
Rapunzel gently wrapped his arm with a bandage. “Well, I’ll get to the bottom of this but, in the meantime, you have to stay where you’re safe.”  
  
Varian sighed. “Okay.”  
  
“The problem is, I’m not sure where. I mean, you could theoretically stay here, at least for the night.” She tied the bandage and got up to put things away. “Cass, can you go get us some water from below? Varian, do you like hazelnuts?”  
  
“Ah, I’m allergic, actually.” He shook his head.  
  
“Okay, no hazelnuts. Got it.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Rapunzel, the graphtych?” Varian got up.  
  
“Right.” She came over to him and got out the graphtych. “I couldn’t open it.” She admitted, handing it to him.  
  
“You got my letter, didn’t you get the key?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Oh!” She got it out of her bag and handed it to him. He stuck it into the slot and turned it, pulling out the contents. “Ohh, what is that?”  
  
“This, Princess,” he unrolled it, “is a scroll.”  
  
Maximus neighed in alarm and they looked over to see him by the open window. Eugene got up and ran over. “Shoot. Looks like we’re leaving, douse that fire.”  
  
Cassandra took care of that and Varian put the scroll back in and took the key out, shoving both in Rapunzel’s bag. She closed it and then turned to the window. “I can’t believe they found us so quickly.” She glared at the window.  
  
“Are we fighting?” Eugene asked, holding up her frying pan.  
  
“No, no frying pans. I have another idea.” Rapunzel said, walking to the window, reaching up to the beads holding her braid together. “These creeps just messed with the _wrong princess_.”  
  
“Rapunzel, what are you doing?” Cassandra asked as she passed them.  
  
“Letting down my hair.” She said with a low growl.  
  
Varian stepped back from the window as Rapunzel draped her hair over the edge. Then there was a bright, blue light and everyone ducked in surprise. When the light was gone, they looked down and saw that the men had been knocked back and were looking really out of it.  
  
“Okay, that—” Rapunzel gasped as a black rock suddenly burst out of the ground. She frantically pulled her hair up and went to the trapdoor, opening it.  
  
“What’s going on?” Varian asked nervously.  
  
“Come on.” She prompted, and they went down after her. They stopped short when they saw black rocks on the stairs blocking their exit, however.  
  
“Uh, I-I did _not_ expect the rocks to follow me all the way up here!” Rapunzel admitted.  
  
“Well, what _did_ you expect them to do?” Eugene asked.  
  
Varian paled and ran for the tower room again, and the others were right behind, the sound of the black rocks bursting out of the stone loud in his ears.  
  
It's funny, it was such a familiar sound by now, he didn’t think he’d _fear_ it anymore. Apparently, he was wrong. He was _terrified,_ especially when they narrowly got through the trapdoor just ahead of the rocks.  
  
And they kept coming.  
  
Rapunzel ran to the window, but a large rock burst out and blocked her way. Varian started to hyperventilate, while Rapunzel looked around for an exit. Cassandra’s Owl flew in through the window and landed on some kind of lever up above the opened a window to the roof.   
  
“That’s the _only_ way out.” Rapunzel said, looking up at it. “Let’s go!”  
  
“Kid, come on!” Eugene took Varian’s hand and pulled him along, snapping him out of his fear-induced trance.   
  
They ran up a flight of steps and then Rapunzel swung her hair up to loop over a rafter before they all started to climb up – even the horse, which Eugene observed with a “So, horses can climb now. That’s a thing” comment.  
  
They got up onto the roof, the animals apparently having some kind of difficulty at the end, and Rapunzel pulled her hair up with them.  
  
“Wh-What now? The rocks are still coming!” Varian said, looking at her anxiously.  
  
Rapunzel looked at the rocks bursting out to chase them and then looked down at the ground. “There’s only one way down.” She said, her hair starting to glow and drift into the air in a wind that seemed to be completely of its own making. She reached out to touch it, then looked towards the black rocks again.  
  
Varian clutched at Ruddiger’s fur, his friend still on his shoulders. The rocks were getting closer, smashing through, sharp and dark and deadly.  
  
“I think I have a way out,” Rapunzel started, “but it’s a little _crazy_ , so you’re just gonna have to trust me.”  
  
Trust her?  
 _Trust_ Rapunzel?  
After everything he’d been through, because he blindly trusted her before?  
  
The black rocks made that decision, damaging the tower more and knocking them into each other.  
  
“Uhhh, sure. Let’s go for it.” Eugene stated nervously. “I’m up for _anything_ , at this point.”  
  
“Follow me!” Rapunzel said, getting up and pulling them along, the group holding hands now.  
  
“Brr, even your _hands_ are cold.” Eugene said to Cassandra as he held her hand. Varian held onto Cassandra’s other hand, and he rolled his eyes a bit. She was wearing gloves, obviously. He didn’t say anything like that to—black rocks. Worry about the black rocks.  
  
Ruddiger tightened on his shoulders as Rapunzel yelled. “Let’s go!” and they ran for the edge, with Maximus, Owl and Pascal following right behind.  
  
“I cannot believe we’re doing _thiiiis_!” Eugene cried as they ran and jumped off the edge.  
  
Rapunzel’s hair flashed and then they were plummeting. Varian squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the fall, but something soft pressed up against his stomach and he opened his eyes to see glowing golden hair in front of him. Looking around, he realized they were all wrapped in a ball made up of her glowing, long hair.  
  
They landed on the ground harmlessly and bounced a bit and then the ball opened like a bud blooming into a flower.  
  
“Uh, did everyone _see_ that?!” Cassandra asked in disbelief. “I-Is that _new_?”  
  
“Uhh, let’s just say it’s complicated?” Eugene said awkwardly.  
  
Varian picked up a bit of her no-longer-glowing hair. “Amazing…I wonder what _else_ you can—”  
  
A sound like crashing stone caught his attention and he looked up to see Rapunzel staring silently at the tower as it was destroyed by the black rocks. Her childhood home, absolutely decimated. He slowly got up and walked over to her, taking her hand with an understanding, pained smile, watching as tears slipped down her cheeks.  
  
He’d seen so many homes suffer the same fate. Half of his own home was destroyed, black rocks littered the inside of his home and lab, fields had been ripped apart, the black rocks destroyed everything they touched and now…now it had taken Rapunzel’s tower.   
  
She let out a shaky sob and her hand tightened in his as the rubble crashed to the ground and kicked up dust that blew past them and briefly covered the area. When it cleared, all they saw was the rubble ahead of them, black rocks poking out of it like black trees. Just like back at home in Old Corona. Everything was decimated, only pieces left.  
  
“…Can we avoid going up in towers from now on?” Eugene asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
Varian felt Rapunzel’s hand slip from his grip and she knelt to pick up a piece of the building, a piece of the mural of her looking towards the lanterns, it looked like. She placed a hand on the picture, on herself, her expression a mixture between sad and grim.  
  
She sighed and set it down and Eugene went to her side. “Are you okay?”  
  
Probably not, Varian guessed. She was probably feeling the same crushing hopelessness he’d been feeling for months.  
  
Rapunzel leaned into Eugene and he held her close. Cassandra suddenly pulled Varian behind her as they heard groaning front in front of them.  
  
Part of the rubble was moved and one of the masked men was on his knees, groaning in pain. His mask was off, but his head was bowed.  
  
“Time for answers.” Rapunzel said, walking over to the man. He reached for his mask and she aggressively kicked it away.  
  
He raised his head and Rapunzel stepped back in surprise. Varian looked over from behind Cassandra, feeling her grip tighten a bit on his hand. “… _The Royal Guard_? I thought it was just some _hired thugs_ …” He said thoughtfully.  
  
“Dad?” Cassandra asked in disbelief. Owl hooted sadly.  
  
He looked at them with a pained expression, then stood up. “Princess…we are under orders to recover the scroll, and to keep it and the alchemist from you.”  
  
“Who?!’” Rapunzel demanded, though she surely already knew from what Varian had said earlier. “ _Who_ ordered you?!”  
  
She just needed to hear it from _them_.  
  
“ _Answer_ her.” Cassandra said, stepping forward and pulling Varian along in the process.  
  
Varian glanced at the other men around them nervously, and she gave his hand a comforting squeeze.  
  
The Captain looked reluctant, then closed his eyes. “Your father.”  
  
So, that was it then. Varian’s claims confirmed. For whatever reason, King Frederic had been taking extreme measures to keep Rapunzel away from Old Corona, the scroll, and Varian.  
  
Rapunzel pulled out the graphtych from her bag and put the key in, pulling out the scroll to look at it properly.  
  
“Why would your father wanna keep this from you?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Because of what it says.” Varian said quietly. They looked over at him, and the Captain gave Varian a weary look of warning. “It says that the black rocks are an ancient darkness, and only the Sundrop can defeat it.” He went on, ignoring the man.  
  
“The Sundrop…” Rapunzel breathed. “The flower?”  
  
Varian nodded.  
  
Rapunzel put the scroll back in and turned to Maximus. “Eugene, can you and Maximus get Varian somewhere safe? I’m going to talk to my father.”  
  
“Wait.” Varian looked at the Captain. “Why keep _me_ away?”  
  
“Because of what you _just did_.” The Captain said grimly.  
  
Varian gasped in realization. “…Oh. _She_ can’t read it…but he probably guessed that _I_ can figure it out.” He looked at Rapunzel. “This is only a _piece_. If we got the whole thing—” Varian yelped as an arrow whizzed by him and Cassandra yanked him away in time.  
  
“Get him to safety. NOW.” Cassandra shoved Varian to Eugene.  
  
Eugene got Varian onto Maximus and got on behind him. “We’ll see you later.” He told Rapunzel, who nodded and handed Varian the graphtych.  
  
“Just in case he tries to take it from me. Be safe!” She said, and Maximus took off at a run. Rapunzel and Cassandra fled the other way, to the castle, and Rapunzel used her hair to knock down a few of the men chasing Maximus.  
  
Varian held the graphtych close, his breathing shaky. He’d gotten her to get the graphtych, but he didn’t expected her to get _him_ out as well. The truth serum formula sat unfinished in his lab, and he hadn’t had a chance to pack anything.  
  
But…he was safe. She’d _saved_ him. He didn’t have to fear opening his door and being met with a sword because it wasn’t the usual time he stepped outside to go to his lab and, if he didn’t keep the routine, it was _suspicious_.  
  
He finally let himself feel relief and let out a choked sob. Eugene moved a hand from the reins and rubbed Varian’s head, but otherwise kept his focus on getting them to…where were they even _going_?


	2. Duckling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene takes Varian to somewhere he thinks Varian will be safe while he figures out what's going on. Varian isn't sure if he agrees with Eugene's definition of "safe".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

The sun had fully risen by the time they reached Eugene’s destination. A cheery-looking place called the “Snuggly Duckling”. “Hope you’re hungry, because I know _I a_ m and we’re gonna get some food in you, small fry.” He said as they got off the horse.  
  
“Uhm, okay.” Varian said as he was led to the door.  
  
Eugene opened the door with a flourish. “Garcon, your finest table, please!”  
  
“Hey, it’s Eugene!” Someone said, and Varian paled as he saw tables full of ruffians and thugs. He barely recognized one of these people as being the one who’d sort of helped him during the science expo.  
  
“Yes, it is I. Hey, we got a hungry kid here, he’s been hounded by the Royal Guard for weeks.” He led Varian in, despite his attempts to turn back. “It’s okay, kid, they’re friendly.”  
  
“Here, you can have my seat.” One of the thugs said, getting up from his seat at the bar, next to an empty one.  
  
“Royal Guard, huh?” The cook asked, a dark-skinned man with a pleasant smile. “Whad’ja do?”  
  
Varian sighed. “Had a brain, apparently.” He mumbled, still feeling wary.  
  
“Lance, food?” Eugene prompted.  
  
“On it. What would you like, little man?” He asked with a grin.  
  
“Something besides apples, berries and fish?” Varian asked, shrinking into his seat.  
  
“How about some nice, hearty stew with meat and vegetables?” Lance suggested.  
  
“Ruddiger would like apples, though.” Varian nodded.  
  
Lance brought some over and Ruddiger finally left Varian’s shoulders to sit on the bar and chow down happily. Lance smiled at him, then got to work. “Hey, uh,” he glanced at him, “if it’s too hard to answer, you don’t have to, but where are your parents?”  
  
Eugene cringed and looked at Varian. Varian sighed. “My mom died years ago…and my dad is stuck.” He said quietly.  
  
“’Stuck’?” Lance asked as he served him food and set it down.  
  
Varian curled up a bit. “Stuck.”  
  
Eugene gently rubbed his shoulder. “It’s complicated. Here, eat up, kid. Lance, I need you to keep an eye on this kid for a little while, while we figure out the whole mess with the Royal Guard.”  
  
Lance nodded. “I can do that.” He served Eugene some of the same food, smiling when he saw Varian digging into the food in front of him.  
  
“Thanks.” Eugene started to eat. “Because they were pretty relentless. We were dodging arrows getting away from them.”  
  
“What on earth are they _hunting_ you for?” One of the thugs asked in disbelief.  
  
“I know too much.” Varian sighed. “The King is trying to hide something, and I know all about it, so I guess he’s trying to stop me from telling people.”  
  
“What is it?” The thug asked anxiously.  
  
Varian set down his fork, his expression haunted. “The black rocks are spreading. In a matter of weeks, they will have reached Corona. But, he wants to pretend they don’t exist. I found out how to fight them…” He clutched at the graphtych still held in one of his hands. “But, I can’t do it myself.”  
  
“What do we need?” Lance asked.  
  
Varian looked up at him. “The Sundrop. It’s the only thing that can destroy them.”  
  
“That old legend?” The thug sighed.   
  
“It’s not just a legend.” Eugene told him. “The flower really exists. It was taken to cure the Queen years ago and no one knows what happened to it after that.”  
  
“No one but the King and his trusted Captain of the Guard.” Varian added.  
  
Eugene sighed. “Anyways, Rapunzel is going to figure this out, told me to find Varian a safe place to stay. I figured here was as good a place as any.”  
  
Lance shrugged. “Well, we’ll make sure he’s okay.”  
  
Eugene finished eating and got up. “Right. On that note, Max and I are going back to the Capital. Lance, he’s all yours.” He put coins on the bar from a pouch on his belt.  
  
“Yep.” Lance nodded. “I’ll watch him for you. Take care going back.”  
  
Eugene gently squeezed Varian’s shoulder and headed out. Varian sighed and went back to his food. To his surprise, he was given more when it was empty without even asking.  
  
“On the house.” Lance assured him.  
  
\--  
  
After he finished eating, he was brought over and taught how to throw darts on a dartboard, and he sat and listened to the bard play music while the thugs tossed around the dwarf called “Shorty”.  
  
He looked over at the piano and, after listening to the bard a bit more, walked over and sat down to plink out the notes on the piano before he played along, the bard seeming to appreciate his joining in and coming over to sit next to the piano and play. After a bit, a thug left the group and started to play another instrument, and then more and more thugs gave up their game and either grabbed an instrument or just clapped along.  
  
Varian smiling at them as he played, but kept his focus on the song so he didn’t mess up. One of the thugs started singing the lyrics to the song, though he didn’t know them and it was heavily slurred by the drink he’d been nursing up until they started to toss Shorty around.  
  
The song finished and the thugs cheered.  
  
“Where did you learn to play like that?” One of the thugs asked.  
  
“Uhm…I’m self-taught.” Varian got up from the piano. “Sorry, I’ll let someone else—"  
  
“Oh, no, it’s okay. You can keep playing.” The thug that’d talked to him earlier, the one with a hook on his foot, encouraged. “We haven’t had any decent piano players since my brother went on tour. Aside from the Princess occasionally coming in.”  
  
“Uhm, okay.” Varian sat back down and started on a folksong, and the thugs and bard joined in. A few thugs started dancing and Varian noticed the thug shifting a bit as he watched them.  
  
“Why don’t you dance?” He asked as he kept playing.  
  
“Oh, uh, I’d _like_ to…but, I’ve got a hook for a foot.” He gestured to it. “And my brother said—”  
  
“Your brother is the famous Hookhand, right?” Varian nodded to a poster talking about the man going on tour. “If he can play piano with a hook for a hand, I don’t see why you can’t dance with a hook for a foot.”  
  
The thug shifted his hook-foot a bit. “You think so? ‘Cause, he said—”  
  
“If _I_ listened to people trying to stop me from what I wanted to do, I _never_ would have gotten into alchemy. I would just be a farm boy, or ‘the mayor’s kid’.” Varian smiled encouragingly at him. “If you want to dance, then _dance_.”  
  
The man’s eyes lit up and he smiled brightly before he started to dance with the other thugs. Varian giggled a bit as he watched him hop and twirl and stomp around as easily as the rest of them, and soon more thugs were joining in with the dancing and singing, with Varian joining in with the singing himself.  
  
When they finished, they all cheered and Varian got a few friendly claps on the back and hugs before Lance came over to bring him back to the bar for a mug of milk.  
  
“Hey, that was real nice what you did for Hookfoot.” He said as he passed him the mug. “I mean, I only recently joined these guys myself, but apparently people had been trying to encourage him to live his dream and he kept deferring to his brother’s words.”  
  
“Family can either build you up or tear you down.” Varian picked up his mug. “And if they choose the latter…sometimes, you have to push back.” He drank some of the milk and then set the mug down, looking towards the door with a distant gaze. “Feels like I’ve been pushing back against everyone I know my _whole life_. Rapunzel was the first one to not try to stop me, to _trust_ my inventions.”  
  
Ruddiger stirred from his nap and climbed off the bar to get onto Varian’s shoulders and pat his face with a sleepy, soothing paw. Varian chuckled and drank more of his milk.  
  
“Things were pretty tough growing up for you, weren’t they?” Lance smiled sadly.  
  
Varian finished his drink and nodded, wiping at his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. “I’ve always been told I’m ‘too smart for my own good’. That I’m…’dangerous’.” He clenched his fist on the bar-top. “’Troublemaker’. ‘Bad kid’. ‘Bad son’…” He hung his head, tears forming in his eyes. “’Not _again_ , Varian’…”  
  
Lance came over and wrapped his arms around him, letting the small teen lean into him, his silent tears slipping down his cheeks and onto Lance’s broad chest.  
  
A thug ran over to them. “We need to get the kid out of here. There’s a guard out front, I just sent Shorty out to distract him but it won’t last long.”  
  
Varian tensed and Lance nodded, getting up and going behind the bar, pulling down a lever that opened up a trapdoor. “Come on, kid.”  
  
Varian nodded and patted Ruddiger’s head as he went behind the bar and followed him through into the darkness, the door closing behind them just as they heard the front door slam open.  
  
“We’re looking for…”  
  
The voices faded off as they moved through the tunnel, Lance keeping a steadying hand on Varian’s shoulder the whole time.  
  
“Oh, man…where can we go?” Lance murmured. “I don’t know anywhere people won’t think to look for you…”  
  
Varian looked thoughtful. “…I do.”  
  
“What?” Lance looked at him. “Where?”  
  
“Let’s get out to the woods and I’ll show you. It’s a place that a lot of the local kids know, but the adults generally avoid. I got dared to go in there one when I was seven years old.” Varian explained as they came out of the tunnel to see a rushing river with remnants of a dam. They heard voices behind them and Lance turned towards them.  
  
“We’ll have to swim.” Varian said, then looked at Ruddiger as he scampered down and tugged on his pants. “Do you know another way?” The raccoon nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.” Ruddiger scampered off and he followed.  
  
“Oh, wait!” Lance followed right behind him.  
  
“There they are!”  
  
Lance picked up Varian and Ruddiger and ran on the narrow walkway Ruddiger had found, the guards chasing them into the woods. “Okay, kid, where to?” He asked, setting him down.  
  
“This way!” Varian said, running off. Lance and Ruddiger followed, disappearing into the tree-line. Varian led them through the woods in what seemed like aimless directions, the guards chasing them as they ran, and Lance realized he was probably trying to throw the guards off. He saw Varian disappear and kept going, glancing up to see he’d climbed up into a tree and hidden in the leaves.   
  
He'd wait here for him to come back after he led away the guards. Ruddiger stayed with Lance, probably sensing what he was doing.  
  
He waited in the tree for a while, but Lance came back with Ruddiger at a calmer pace and Varian guessed that he’d lost the guard. He held up his arms and Varian climbed down into them, letting him hold him for a bit. “You okay?” He asked, checking Varian over.  
  
“I’m fine.” Varian smiled. “How’d you lose the guard?”  
  
“Tripped him into a hole.” Lance grinned. “He’ll be okay, I’ll go check on him once you’re safe.” He set him down. “Now, where to?”  
  
Varian nodded and led him along through the woods, following the river until they reached a fork. Then he turned right and followed the river until they came to a stream, which they followed up to a cottage with a damaged rope bridge connected where they were and the cottage’s little island. Varian hopped over the stream with ease and walked up the building, Lance and Ruddiger following right behind.  
  
Varian took a deep breath and then walked up to the door, reaching out to open it and looking in. “Hello?”  
  
“Does someone live here?” Lance asked.  
  
“Well, not anymore. Used to, years ago. Then she moved.” Varian said, walking in.  
  
Lance followed him in, looking at a broken music box by the door with interest. “What _is_ this place?”  
  
“This is Old Lady Gothel’s cottage.” Varian explained as he walked over to close the door. “Where she used to live, before she kidnapped Princess Rapunzel.”  
  
“Wait, _really_?” Lance looked around.  
  
“Uh-huh. No one _ever_ goes here unless it’s on a dare, and that’s just the kids.” Varian smiled. “They’d _never_ think to look for me here.”  
  
“Frankly, this place is creeping me out.” Lance admitted. “There’s no ghost of Gothel or anything, right?”  
  
“The last time I was here was before she died.” Varian shrugged. “Besides, ghosts aren’t real.”  
  
“Yeah, tell that to Rapunzel. Apparently, she’s encountered quite a few. And I _know_ evil spirits are real, one of them tried to get me to help summon a demon!” Lance said, going to dust off the fireplace. “If you’re gonna stay here, then we should warm this place up.”  
  
“No.” Varian said firmly, stopping him. “Blankets will work fine. If we use the fireplace or clean anything up, it’s a sign someone is living here and someone will get suspicious.” He walked over to a door and opened it, looking in. “Okay, no one in there.”  
  
Lance nodded. “So…you really think you’ll be safe here, even if left alone? Because I gotta let Eugene know where you are, and also get you some food to store. Don’t know how long you’ll be here.”  
  
“Long enough for Rapunzel to get the flower, I hope.” Varian sighed.  
  
“So…” Lance shifted a bit and followed him to sit on a dusty couch. “What, uh…what did you mean by ‘stuck’?”  
  
“Oh…” Varian sighed. “Well…” He kicked his legs a bit. “You know how I said I did alchemy?” Lance nodded. “Well, when the King didn’t do anything about the black rocks that were, uh, _consuming my town_ , and my dad decided to _lie_ to him instead of asking for the help that, as a good King, he should have _already been giving_ , I decided to take matters into my own hands, study them, and attempt to destroy them myself. Nothing got a reaction, though, until I made an alchemical solution that, apparently, transformed the black rocks into amber. Not really an improvement, and still just as indestructible.”  
  
He cleared his throat. “Anyways, uh, my dad chose that moment to come in and have an argument with me about my messing with the black rocks and…well, when they started to change into amber, he noticed it and pushed me out of the way. Would it have been better to _pull_ me away, instead? Yes. But, he’s not here to talk to about that. He’s trapped and, when I ran to the castle to get help for him before it was too late – _during a blizzard, may I add?!_ – I was turned away and _thrown out into the snow_. And then, because the King wasn’t satisfied with _that_ , he decided to add _insult_ _to_ _injury_ and make a false accusation that I attacked Rapunzel that day.”  
  
He started to count on his fingers as he spoke. “An accusation that I didn’t find out until my entire town evacuated, and the people of Corona stoned me, chased me down, and called me a _traitor_. Then, a week after the storm, _the Royal Guard_ started to _corral me like cattle_! I couldn’t leave the Kingdom, I couldn’t contact anyone, I couldn’t do _anything_ but get food and stay at home and work in my lab, they wouldn’t even let me _kill myself_!”  
  
“Merciful heavens.” Lance breathed.  
  
“And now…now I find out it’s because…” He pulled out the graphtych and unlocked it, unrolling the scroll for him to see. “Because I’m _too smart for my own good_ …and I can translate _this thing_.”  
  
Lance looked at it. “What does it say?”  
  
“That the Sundrop can destroy the rocks. The Sundrop that only the _King_ knows where it is.” He rolled it up again and put it back in before locking it once more and getting up to put it on a shelf.  
  
“So, what’s the plan?” Lance asked.  
  
“Rapunzel is going to talk to her father, that’s all I know.” Varian looked around thoughtfully. “Hey, can you get ahold of those guys from the bar and ask them to help pick up some things from my home? I can tell you the secret way in.” He smiled at him.  
  
Lance shrugged. “Okay.”  
  
Varian grinned. “Great. Now, let’s see if Old Lady Gothel left any writing implements for me to use…” He started to look around.  
  
\--  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Lance was heading off, leaving Varian and Ruddiger alone. He closed the door behind him and then looked around. “Right…let’s clean this place up, after all. I’m sure she won’t mind.” She started with picking up the broken music box by the door and setting it on a table before he grabbed a duster and started to dust the place of cobwebs, with Ruddiger helping with a rag.  
  
This place had sit untouched for his entire life, and the dust had really built up. But, it was a defensible location, almost as good as the tower, and really out of the way. Best of all, he didn’t have the emotional distraction sitting in his lab, barely covered by a tarp.  
  
If he was going to get to the bottom of the black rocks and King Frederic’s lies before it was too late, as well as find out how to rescue his father, he needed to _focus_. Rapunzel hadn’t known about the rumors and she hadn’t intended to abandon him. He would talk to her about her absence later, but right now he just knew that she had saved him from that prison. She was an ally.  
  
Even if he still felt bitter, he felt he could trust her a little.  
  
That aside, Gothel had kidnapped Princess Rapunzel for her magical hair, granted by the Sundrop. Somewhere in this place was clues about the Sundrop, he just knew it. That was partly why he’d chosen to come here, because if King Frederic was going to be _useless_ , well, Gothel wouldn’t be. She didn’t exactly have the _choice_.  
  
He was in the middle of sweeping when he heard a knock at the door and he checked out the window before going to open it. “Ah, thanks!” He said cheerfully, letting the thugs enter with the crates full of what he’d asked for.  
  
“Is this everything?” Lance asked as they set the crates down.  
  
Varian checked over the crates. “Uh-huh. Thanks.” He said, then went to clear off a counter and set up his alchemy equipment.  
  
“Hey, uh…that guy…” Hookfoot started awkwardly.  
  
“That was my dad.” Varian confirmed before going back to his cleaning.   
  
“…Wow.” The thug nodded.  
  
“I’m okay now, so unless you wanna help clean, you don’t have to stay.” He said as he tossed out the stuff he swept up.  
  
“And leave you by yourself?” Lance asked.  
  
“I’m pretty used to being left on my own. Feels weird having people around, actually. Kind of distracting. No offense.” He looked at them. “You’ve all been a big help, but I’m okay now. Thank you.”  
  
“Well, I’m sticking around.” Lance assured him.  
  
“Fine, grab a mop.” He went back to cleaning.  
  
A few of the thugs left, but the ones that stayed helped him clean up. They were Hookfoot, Lance, Ulf – a mime that carried on an interesting conversation with Ruddiger – and a baker from Corona named Attila that brought in a basket of pastries, which they shared after they were done cleaning.  
  
“It’s getting late.” Lance said as the others prepared to leave. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, or should I sleep here with you?”  
  
“Do you live alone?” Varian asked.  
  
“Yeah.” Lance nodded.  
  
“Then, go ahead and stay.” He walked over to his alchemy equipment and started to work on his truth serum formula.  
  
“What are you doing?” Lance asked curiously.  
  
“Working on a truth serum. Might have Rapunzel slip it into the King’s drink.” He said casually.  
  
Lance walked over to see the others out. “Thanks for helping out, guys.”  
  
“Yeah, uh…is that kid _okay_?” Hookfoot asked.  
  
“You know…” Lance looked over at Varian. “I’m not sure.”  
  
“Thanks for your help today. And the pastries were great. See you later.” Varian said, not looking up from his work.  
  
“Maybe we’ll be back later?” Hookfoot suggested.  
  
“I’d rather you not, actually. You might lead a guard here.” Varian looked over at them. “I need to set up traps, thinking about it. Just in case. You know, my freedom’s at stake and all.”  
  
“Oh, we understand.” They assured him.  
  
He nodded. “Good night, then.” He looked back at his work.  
  
They left and Lance closed the door before walking over to them. “How can I help?”  
  
Varian smiled and motioned him over. “Ruddiger, can you show him how to use the equipment? Also, I think I’m about done.” He pulled out a bottle. “Let’s see if we can make this into a truth serum.”  
  
Lance blinked, looking at it. “What’s that?”  
  
“This is a mood potion, it had a…very interesting effect on me, good thing I only used a drop.” He looked like he regretted it. “Anyways, a potion that directly affects the mind could surely be made into a truth serum with some modifications. I’ve written up a formula, so…” He pushed up his sleeves and tightened his apron strings and gloves before putting his goggles over his eyes. “Let’s get to work.” He paused and dug into a crate before handing Lance a large pair of gloves and goggles. “Here. I figured you’d be sticking around, and you’ll need these if you’re going to help.”  
  
Lance nodded and put them on. “Okay, uh, boss. What do we need to do?”  
  
Varian grinned and opened the bottle. “We do _alchemy_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gothel's not using it, someone should.
> 
> ((A/N: It's not really known for sure WHAt Lance was doing at this time during canon, but I recall him saying in an earlier episode that he was going to try for a job as a chef at the Snuggly Duckling, so he's one here.))


	3. Punished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian finds out that Rapunzel was punished for helping him and takes action, donning a disguise to get into the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Lance sighed softly as he carried Varian to bed and removed his alchemy gear and boots. He’d started dozing off and barely protested when he was removed from the table, Ruddiger turning off the equipment as he carried him into a room.  
  
It looked like Gothel had a child of her own before, and Lance wondered about where it – she, judging by the dresses – had gone to. He laid Varian on the child’s bed and covered him with the blanket, smiling fondly at him. There was a bigger bed nearby in the same room, and he decided to claim that for himself, after going out and making sure the doors and windows were closed and locked up for the night. Ruddiger wandered into the room and climbed up onto Varian’s chest, curling up to sleep.  
  
He sighed again as he went to climb into bed, taking off his boots and curling up on the bed, looking at the teenager fast asleep in the other bed.  
  
He'd grown up without a family, lost them at such a young age and didn’t even know how it happened, so he didn’t have anything to miss. But, he saw Eugene as a brother, and couldn’t _bear_ to think of him trapped in that horrible state. Encased in amber, reaching out desperately to the sky, a note clutched in his hand with his final words written on them. He wrapped his arms around himself, cringing. It was an image for his nightmares, for sure.  
  
Well, it’d be a change from the clowns and the spiders, at least…  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel glared out at the horizon. She’d been confined to her room and bars put on her window for directly disobeying her father and daring to talk back to him, even accusing him of not having the Kingdom’s best interests at heart.  
  
He'd sent out people to look for Varian, of course, and posted guards at her door. Cassandra and Eugene had also been taken from her, and she hoped they were both okay. Apparently, helping Varian was borderline treason because of how _dangerous_ he was.  
  
“Varian…” She clutched at the bars. “ _Please_ , be okay…”  
  
\--  
  
Eugene sighed as he paced the floor of the cell he’d been shoved into for the night. It was this or assist with the search for Varian, and he refused to help so the prison it was.  
  
Cassandra was probably getting a major scolding right now. He’d seen a wanted poster of Varian on the way in, he didn’t know how he missed it before. Then again, maybe it was new. They had him nicely _contained_ before they rescued him, after all.  
  
He still couldn’t believe that the Captain had been…the poor kid looked so _scared_. It wasn’t bad enough his dad was trapped, but he had to endure that for…weeks? Ever since the storm? Come to think of it, King Frederic had been keeping Rapunzel occupied with different tasks, even without Sugracha taking advantage of Rapunzel’s indecision.  
  
Why hadn’t he seen it before? Rapunzel was so busy, more than usual. And now, with her nineteenth birthday coming up, she was in locked up in her room. Her tower. How was Frederic any better than Gothel?!  
  
He was regretting bringing her home to her parents.  
  
He sighed and went to lie down on his cot, glancing towards the bars when he heard guards talking.  
  
“…with the Saporian once we catch him. He’s just as much of a danger to the King.”  
  
The Captain. Eugene sat up a bit, frowning. ‘The Saporian…Andrew?’ He thought, getting up and moving over to the bars to listen better.  
  
“…not giving up the location?”  
  
“He’s stubborn, but we’ll get it out of him. Then the Separatists will fall for good.”  
  
“No one has seen any of his allies in town, why would he act alone? They _never_ do.”  
  
The Captain sighed. “Wanted to prove himself? Young, reckless…like Cassandra.”  
  
He was talking with a guard Eugene didn’t recognize.  
  
“Allow me to try using more forceful methods. I bet I can make him squeal.” The guard said with a grin that unsettled Eugene.  
  
“I will speak with the King on that matter.” The Captain replied.  
  
“Well, in the meantime, it’s time to bring him dinner.” The guard walked off into a door that Eugene just realized he’d never entered before. He’d seen it, sure, but never really cared about what was beyond it. It wasn’t part of his patrol.  
  
Now he was starting to wonder if that was where Cassandra’s absolutely-not-attractive Saporian ex-boyfriend had disappeared to.  
  
“Go to sleep, Fitzherbert. I’ll let you out in the morning.” The Captain said, passing by his cell.  
  
“Is Cassandra okay?” He asked.  
  
“I sent her to her room. She’ll receive her punishment tomorrow.” He walked on.  
  
“Why is Andrew kept separate from the rest?” He asked.  
  
The Captain sighed. “He’s a _terrorist_ , Eugene.”  
  
“What about Lady Caine? Up until she got shipped off to the prison barge, she was out here.” Eugene pointed out.  
  
The Captain turned to him. “Because we don’t want him recruiting other prisoners, and we’re trying to get information about the rest of his people. Happy?” He turned and walked off.  
  
“…Yeah, okay, that makes sense.” Eugene nodded. “Hey, Captain?”  
  
He stopped and turned back to him. “Yes?”  
  
Eugene leaned on the bars, looking at him with a serious expression. “As a father, _how could you_?”  
  
The Captain flinched. “…If it’s any consolation…I kept him from being hurt as much as I _could_. However, orders are orders, and the boy had to be contained.”  
  
“Because he knew too much. Because the King, for _whatever_ reason, doesn’t want the people to know about the black rocks that are creeping up on Corona _as we speak_.” Eugene gripped the bars. “Why doesn’t he want to tell anyone about it? If nothing else, we should be preparing for an evacuation if we can’t _stop_ them!”  
  
“Good night, Fitzherbert.” He left, the door to the dungeon closing behind him.  
  
Eugene sighed and rested his head on the bars, then looked towards the door that Andrew was apparently behind. They planned to put Varian in with him, judging by what he’d heard earlier, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.  
  
\--  
  
When the sun rose on the next day, Eugene was allowed out with a warning not to do anything “foolish”. So, of course, the first thing he did was find out how Rapunzel and Cassandra were. Rapunzel was locked in her room and allowed no visitors and Cassandra was meeting with her father when he came to find her, so he decided to try later and left the castle to go pay the Snuggly Duckling a visit.  
  
He rode with Maximus, who had somehow avoided punishment or else it was just as short as Eugene’s had been, and made sure he wasn’t followed as he took off for the Snuggly Duckling as fast as Maximus could. When he got there, he hopped off Maximus and went in.  
  
“Eugene’s back!” Hookfoot greeted.  
  
“Hey.” He waved, then looked around. “…Where’s the kid?”  
  
“Oh, he and Lance had to move somewhere else.” Hookfoot walked over to him. “I can show you where but, uh, you’re…not with the guard, right?”  
  
“Absolutely not, never. Not after…” Eugene sighed heavily. “I just need to know he’s okay.”  
  
“Trust me, that kid is fine.” Hookfoot assured him.  
  
Eugene nodded. “Okay…show me where he is.”  
  
Hookfoot nodded and then he and Ulf led Eugene out and into the woods, Maximus following them as they went.  
  
They went an unfamiliar direction and kept checking to make sure they weren’t being followed many times before they finally came out to a nice little cottage. “In there?” Eugene asked, walking forward.  
  
He felt something tug on his foot and then he was engulfed in a pink smoke. When it cleared, he sighed and looked at the goo around his legs. “Yep. He’s set up shop here.”  
  
They saw a curtain move slightly and then Varian came out, laughing a bit. “Eugene!” He greeted, freeing up his legs. “You’re here!” He hugged him.  
  
“Yeah, I’m here.” Eugene nodded with a smile.  
  
Varian looked around. “Where are Rapunzel and Cassie?”  
  
Eugene sighed. “Rapunzel’s locked up in her room, bars on her window. Cassandra was being told off by her dad when I left and _I_ spent the night in the dungeon for refusing to help look for you.”  
  
“Wow, he _really_ hates me.” Varian rolled his eyes. “Well, we’ll get them out. Come on, Lance got us some breakfast.”  
  
He led them in and Eugene stopped in the doorway after the others all went in, looking around. “Uh, whose house is this, anyway?”  
  
“Well, it _was_ Old Lady Gothel’s, but I don’t think she minds me using it.” Varian said as he sat down to eat.  
  
“Where’s the Princess?” Lance asked.  
  
“Locked up.” Eugene sighed.  
  
“We need to get her out.” Varian looked thoughtful. “But, we need to do it in a way that isn’t suspicious. I could melt the bars if I could get in, I have acid. But, how am I going to get in…”  
  
Eugene sighed. “No idea, only the maids are allowed in her room right now.”  
  
Varian looked up at him. “Could you get one of their uniforms?”  
  
“Uh, sure, from Cassandra.” Eugene nodded. “Why?”  
  
“Try to get one in my size.” Varian said, going back to his food.  
  
Eugene blinked in confusion. “Wait…what?”  
  
“I don’t trust anyone to be able to use my solutions but me, so if we’re getting her out of there, I have to get in. Besides,” he looked at Lance, “I can slip something in the King’s drink.”  
  
“Varian, no. This is too risky.” Eugene argued.  
  
Varian sighed and got up, walking into the other room. Eugene looked over with confusion and shrugged at the others.  
  
When Varian came back out, his hair was a different color. Instead of black with a blue stripe, it was blond, his hair tied back in a high ponytail. “Well?”  
  
Eugene sighed. “Okay…we’ll try your plan. I’ll get the uniform. What are you going to do about your, uh…well…I guess that’s not a problem.” He faltered.  
  
“You can say I have an effeminate figure, it’s okay.” Varian said flatly, sitting back down to eat.  
  
“Yeah, uh…heh. I’ll get you a uniform.” Eugene nodded. “I’ll be back.” He headed for the door.  
  
That was…confusing. Very confusing. He wasn’t going to lie, without the hairstripe and black hair, he didn’t look like himself. Especially with his bangs pinned back like they were.  
  
Still, he was worried about the kid getting caught…  
  
\--  
  
Of all the things he imagined stealing, a maid’s uniform wasn’t one of them. Luckily, Cassandra still had her job (somehow) and, upon hearing Varian’s plan, somehow managed to get something in Varian’s size for Eugene to take back to him.  
  
“Tell him to be careful and, if he needs somewhere to hide, my room is available.” She said, shoving the uniform into a bag and handing to him. “And warn him that, if he gets caught, he’s going into High-Security.”  
  
Eugene nodded. “I will.”  
  
He left her after that, heading back as fast as Maximus could carry him. When he got there, he found that Ulf and Hookfoot had left, but Lance was still here. Varian’s hair was still blonde, and he looked up with a smile when he came in with the uniform. “Eugene, you got it!”  
  
“Yep.” He handed it over to him. “Hope it fits.”  
  
Varian smiled and walked off into the other room again. Eugene sat down with Lance and sighed. “Things are a mess, buddy.”  
  
“Yeah.” Lance nodded. “I figured that.”  
  
They heard the door open and looked up, their jaws dropping. If they didn’t know Varian had just stepped into the room, they wouldn’t recognize the girl that stepped out. His freckles were concealed with makeup he must’ve found in there, his hair was blond, and even his blue eyes didn’t give him away. He walked with a dainty posture he must’ve learned from pure observation, because he _certainly_ didn’t walk like that before and he looked, well, like a young maid.  
  
Like little Faith, around his age.  
  
“Lucky for me, Gothel was _really_ obsessed with her looks.” Varian said, making his voice higher, gentler.  
  
Geez, this kid had good acting skills.  
  
“You, uh, you look great!” Eugene said, to which Varian gave a curtsy. “You need a fake name…”  
  
“Marian.” Varian said casually. “It’s close enough to my real name that any accidental slips wouldn’t give me away.”  
  
“Wow, you really thought this through.” Eugene said, watching the teenager walk over to the counter and pick up a few bottles, which he slipped into the pockets of the maid uniform. “I guess…we’re going to the castle, then.”  
  
“If you are ready.” He turned to him with a smile. “Lance? Can you watch Ruddiger for me?”  
  
“Uh, sure.” Lance nodded. “I’ll stay here and wait for the good news.”  
  
“Let’s go.” Eugene opened the door and they headed out. Eugene helped Varian—Marian, he had to get that in his head—onto Maximus in front of him and they rode off together.  
  
\--  
  
Getting him—her—into the castle was easy enough. There were so many maids, no one even batted an eye at a new one showing up. Well, no one but Cassandra, who took one look and raised an eyebrow before taking over.  
  
“You’ll be helping me with tidying up the Princess’s room.” She said, leading the teenager along. “What’s your name again?”  
  
“Marian, miss.” She replied politely.  
  
“Well, Marian, I know this is your first time working with the Princess so I have to warn you that she can get a bit, uh, overly friendly around strangers, but also really jumpy. And you might want to be wary of hugs.”  
  
Marian nodded, smiling politely at the guards as they reached Rapunzel’s room.  
  
“Okay, here we are.” Cassandra turned to the guards. “I’m here to take care of the Princess’s room.”  
  
They stepped aside, but watched her closely. Cassandra didn’t recognize these two, they certainly weren’t Stan and Pete. Maybe they thought they’d be too easy to bribe – which they were.  
  
Cassandra opened the door and they stepped inside. “Princess, good morning.” Cassandra greeted as Marian closed the door behind her.  
  
“Morning.” Rapunzel said glumly, sitting on her bed. She was still in her nightdress and staring at the barred window.  
  
Cassandra sighed and walked over to her. “Hey, chin up. I brought someone to see you.” She nodded to the door.  
  
Rapunzel looked over, looking confused. “Cass, I don’t know that person.”  
  
Cassandra beckoned the maid over and she walked up to them, her posture shifting a bit as she got closer. “Hey.” She said quietly with Varian’s voice.  
  
Rapunzel did two things. The first was let out a squeal and hug him. The next was to look him over. “…How does this _fit_ you so well?” She whispered.  
  
“I’ve always been, uh, _small_ in stature.” Varian sat next to her on the bed at her prompting. “I heard you got locked in here. I’m here to help you out, and also give something to the King.”  
  
“Give something to my father?” Rapunzel raised an eyebrow.  
  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottles he packed. “This yellow one is acid for your bars. It’ll melt them so you can get out with your hair. This one,” he held up a vial with a purple liquid, “is a truth serum. I’m going to find out where the Sundrop Flower is, so we can get it and save Corona.”  
  
He put both back in his pocket and then spoke with a dainty, feminine voice again, his posture and volume returning to normal. “Begging your pardon, Your Highness, but I _do_ need to make your bed.”  
  
“But I’m sitting on it.” She giggled and got up at Cassandra’s prompting. “Are you going to help brush my hair, too?” She asked as Cassandra led her over to get dressed while Varian made her bed. “Oh, what’s her name?”  
  
“Marian, Your Highness.” Varian smiled at her. “I’m Marian.”  
  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, _Marian_.” Rapunzel winked and then Cassandra pulled her to get changed behind the screen.  
  
\--

Obviously, he couldn’t just use the acid right now, it’d be extremely suspicious if she escaped the day that Marian started helping her out. So, he’d have to stick around and work in the castle for a little while – especially since he planned to slip something into the King’s drink.  
  
Luckily, helping Cassandra out before had given him practice with making beds, collecting laundry to be cleaned, and cleaning the rooms in the castle. While he wasn’t using his alchemy to make things go faster, he was still able to efficiently get work done.  
  
“I can’t get this stain out…” One of the maid girls, Faith whimpered as she struggled with a stain from a clumsy wine guest.  
  
He moved next to her. “Is everything okay?”  
  
“No.” Faith sighed. “I don’t know what to do, and Miss Crowley is going to yell at me…”  
  
He gently took it. “Go and get a cut lemon and salt from the kitchen.” He said gently, and she looked at him with surprise. “Trust me.”  
  
She blinked, then looked closer before gasping and looking around before whispering, “Varian, what are you _doing_ here? And looking like _this_?”  
  
“I couldn’t just stand by and let people get in trouble for helping me while I hid away.” Varian whispered back. “And it’s ‘Marian’.”  
  
She looked worried. “Okay, uh, Marian, what are you going to do? If they catch you, you’ll go into High-Security. Are you okay? I heard the rumors, but I _knew_ that you’d never do anything like _that_ , you’re too _sweet_.”  
  
His expression darkened briefly, but then brightened up. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?” He smiled. “Work now. We don’t want to get scolded, right?”  
  
“Right.” She nodded, then hurried off to get the cut lemon and salt. After she came back with it, she watched in awe as Varian showed her how to soak the cloth in cold water and then wring it out before squeezing lemon juice onto the stain and then, finally, rubbing salt onto the stain while it was still soaked with the lemon juice. Then he rinsed it out again, put on more lemon juice, and laid it out on a flat surface for the sun to shine on it while they washed other clothes.  
  
“You really know your stuff.” She whispered quietly, walking over with him to pick it up once it was done and the stain was completely gone.  
  
“Heh, thanks.” He nodded, smiling shyly.  
  
They gave the now stain-free shirt another wash and then hung it up to dry with the rest. “I’m glad that you helped me, but why are you…uh…this?” She gestured to him. “You have a really cute voice, by the way.”  
  
“Oh, thanks.” Varian blushed. “Like I said before, I couldn’t just stand by and let people get in trouble for helping me while I hid away. The Princess is locked in her room with bars on her window, I’m going to help her.” He glanced away. “And I have something else to do, too.”  
  
She took his hand. “Just…promise me you won’t do anything that will get you caught? You’re my friend, Varian.”  
  
He smiled softly and nodded. “Thanks. It’s nice to know we’re still friends after all the rumors started flying.”  
  
“My sister wouldn’t let me go anywhere near Old Corona, but I worried about you.” She hugged him and he smiled, returning the hug.  
  
“What’s all this hugging about?” Old Lady Crowley walked over to them. “Are you done with your chores?”  
  
“Oh, uh, we’ll go now.” Faith said, pulling Varian along with a flustered expression.  
  
“You can hug on your break!” She called after them.  
  
“I didn’t even hear her walk up.” Varian said, laughing a bit as they headed off together.  
  
“Varian,” she squeezed his hand gently, whispering, “What other thing are you planning to do?”  
  
Varian glanced to the side. “The less you know, Faith, the better. It’s not going to hurt anyone, though. That’s all I can tell you.”  
  
She looked at him with concern, then nodded. “Okay. I trust you, and I’ll help you with…uh…” She giggled a bit. “I knew you were _small_ , but _how_ does this fit so _well_?”  
  
He lightly shoved her and she laughed. He smiled; he liked hearing her laugh. The poor girl was usually so sad because she was always making mistakes and getting in trouble, which is what they bonded over when he worked at the castle while helping out Cassandra before the science expo.  
  
Which was part of the reason he didn’t hate that day _completely_. It was an utter mess from start to finish, but at least he made a friend in Faith.  
  
They walked together to the next chore, whispering back and forth, Varian making sure to keep using his “Marian” voice just in case of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some risks are worth taking.
> 
> ((A/N: I had an insert picture for the reveal of "Marian" planned, but I'm dealing with art block so you'll just have to see it later.))


	4. Clever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With "Marian" in place, Varian attempts to find a way to drug the king. Unfortunately, a familiar voice forces him to take some drastic measures to throw the scent off of his disguise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Day two, Varian woke up in his room next to Faith’s and the girl came in to help him style his hair and apply makeup after he got dressed. Her brow furrowed as she cupped his blue hairstripe in her hand. “This didn’t dye?” She whispered.  
  
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ve just been hiding it.”  
  
“Let me help you pin it better.” She set to work and he waited patiently.  
  
He heard a knock on his door and glanced over. “Marian, are you up?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Yes, Miss Cassandra.” He said, using his “Marian” voice.  
  
Faith finished with his hair just as she came in and the woman looked him up and down, her eyebrow raised. “Okay, then. We’re going to go wake the Princess again and get her ready for the day. Then I will be escorting her around the castle, but neither of us are allowed to leave it.” Cassandra said, closing the door behind her and walking over to adjust the maid headdress and check him over for any wrinkles. “While I am doing that, I want you to be cleaning her room.” She looked at Faith, her brow furrowing.  
  
“It’s okay, Cass.” Varian said quietly. “She knows. I trust her.”  
  
“Oh, good. Then, you can help her.” She nodded, then adjusted Varian’s pigtails a bit so they were straight. “I _really_ hope you know what you’re doing.” She said quietly. “The guards that were sent out after you came back, but they’ve redone the wanted posters so they actually look like you. You cannot do anything that could get you caught, understand? They _will_ put you in high-security and the only daylight you will see again will be through a tiny, barred window. Plus…” She cringed. “I hear those guys are brutal.”  
  
Varian nodded, moving his hand to his arm. Cassandra noticed and frowned, moving his hand to carefully unwrap the bandage. “It’s healing, good.” She carefully wrapped up the bruise again and adjust the sleeve so it covered the bandage. “Well…let’s go wake the Princess.”  
  
“Yes, Miss Cassandra.” He said, adopting his “Marian” voice again. They all headed out together to Rapunzel’s room. Cassandra once again got them through the guards and then closed the door behind them. “Right, then.” She walked over o the window and opened the curtains. “Rise and shine, Raps.”  
  
“Mmnn…” Rapunzel groaned and slowly raised her head, still covered by the blanket. “Already?”  
  
“Good morning, Princess.” Varian said in his Marian voice.  
  
“Oh!” She pushed her blanket off and blushed awkwardly. “I, uh, hi.”  
  
Varian rolled his eyes with amusement and walked over with Faith. Rapunzel looked surprised to see Faith there and Varian nodded to Faith before giving a thumbs-up.  
  
“Good news, Raps. You get to continue your princess duties, as long as you stay in the castle and, well, are supervised by guards.” Cassandra said, getting out a dress for Rapunzel. “Also, you have birthday stuff to look over. I hear that there’s an entire room full of presents being set up.”  
  
Rapunzel got up. “Mm. Maybe I can see Eugene sometime today.” She walked over to the bars on her window and sighed, gripping the iron. “…Can you get me out of here soon?”  
  
“I will.” Varian assured her, walking up to her. “I just need to do something first.”  
  
She turned to him. “I trust you.”  
  
He moved his hand to his pocket, which the bottles were still resting in. “In case…” He faltered.  
  
“In case?” She looked concerned.  
  
He pulled out the acid bottle. “I’d like you to wait for me to help you use it but, in case I have to flee the castle…” He handed it to her.  
  
She nodded, wrapping her hand around it. “I’ll hide it where no one will find it until then.”  
  
“Just…make sure it’s not anywhere high. It’s acid.” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
She blushed a bit. “Am I _that_ predictable?”  
  
She went to go hide it in her wardrobe. “But, Marian,” she turned to him. “…promise me you’ll be okay?”  
  
He glanced away. “…I don’t do promises anymore.” He went to make the bed while Cassandra and Faith came over to help her get changed.  
  
\--  
  
After Rapunzel left, Varian and Faith cleaned up her room and then headed off to do other chores. Varian went from room to room, cleaning and making the beds and putting the laundry down the chute to be washed. He found himself in the hallway leading to the King and Queen’s room and study and turned to head down that way.  
  
It was okay, he just needed to find a way to slip the truth serum to King Frederic. But, while he was here, maybe he could see what _else_ the man had in his study.  
  
A shadow fell over him and a hand grabbed his shoulder, pushing him against the wall and turning him towards whoever the person was. Varian winced in pain and looked up to see a Royal Guard looking down at him with an amused smile. “Now, who is this?”   
  
‘Oh no…’ Varian swallowed nervously. Something felt…familiar.  
  
The man moved a hand up to prop against the wall and the other hand moved from Varian’s shoulder to rest on his own side. “Looks like I found a lost little canary around the King’s office.” He mused with a cruel smile. “What should I do with you?”  
  
Varian stared up at him, his body trembling with fear. ‘This voice…’ He realized. ‘He’s one of the men that corralled me in Old Corona for weeks…’ He clutched at the wall behind him, praying for some kind of escape. ‘The one that hurt my arm…’  
  
  
  
“Cat got your tongue?” He teased, moving his hand from his side to brush against Varian’s cheek. “Why so scared of me, little bird?”  
  
“I-I’m…I’m not…” He said, using Marian’s voice.  
  
“Aw, trying to lie to a member of the Royal Guard?” He winked and knelt to look him in the eye. “You’re not _hiding_ anything from me, _are_ you, sweetheart?”  
  
“N-No…I…you’re very tall.” Varian said shakily. “And…and…”  
  
He clicked his tongue. “I suppose I would be, to a little bird like yourself.” He rubbed Varian’s head and then moved his hands to rest on Varian’s shoulders “But, see, there’s nothing to _fear_ if you haven’t done anything _wrong_.”  
  
“I-I don’t mean to contradict you, sir, but…I was taught to be _wary_ of men I don’t know.” Varian said, feeling slightly relieved that he was managing to keep up the act.  
  
He raised an eyebrow and then laughed, leaning in. “Do you think I’m going to _eat_ you, little bird?” He asked in a husky tone.  
  
“I-I…” Varian stammered.  
  
He moved his hand to Varian’s arm, the other cupping his cheek. “If I catch you alone here again, I just _might_.” He hissed with a feral grin, then leaned in close, whispering, “Do as you’re told, stay in your place.”  
  
Varian tensed. He’d said the same thing to him before, when he was wearing a mask and Varian was in his own clothes, his own hair. It was a horribly familiar scene, and he found back tears from the memories of what followed. He’d been stupid, then, and punched him away – earning himself a brutal beating. He wouldn’t make that mistake this time. He froze up, his head turning slightly away, waiting for him to let him go.  
  
“You know…you have some _really pretty_ blue eyes.” The man mused.  
  
Coming from the guy with bright, blue eyes that sent chills down Varian’s spine?  
  
“Reminds me of some _other_ eyes I’ve seen.” He went on.  
  
“Marian!” Faith called, coming up to them. “Marian, did you finish in the bedrooms yet? Oh!” She gasped, stopping short. “I-I…”  
  
“Relax.” The guard let go of Varian and stood up. “We’re done here. Don’t come alone next time.” He lightly popped Varian’s bottom and Varian fast-walked over to Faith, resisting the urge to whimper. “See you around…” He grinned in a feral way again. “ _Marian_.”  
  
Varian paled and then hurried off, Faith following him.  
  
Did he _know_? Oh Sun, he _knew_ , didn’t he? Why didn’t he just _arrest_ him, then? Why _let him go_? Why was he _toying_ with him?! Varian wrapped his arms around himself, his body shaking from the experience. He felt sick. The man had put his hands on “Marian” as eagerly as he’d used his fists on Varian, seeming to not care about “her” age. And that _threat_ …  
  
Before being corralled, he had _no_ problems with meeting strangers. _Now_ , though? After being terrorized by that guy and the rest of the Royal Guard for…weeks?  
  
“Marian?” Faith gently said, her hands clasped in front of her.  
  
Varian forced back a sob, phantom pains all over his body from the last time he’d had him cornered like that. His arm still hurt from when he’d tried to drag him behind the building. What would’ve happened to him back there? He felt sick just _thinking_ about it.  
  
Getting the truth serum into his water jug in his office was out of the question. He might just have to drug his meal somehow, without anyone being affected. Especially Rapunzel, who knew who he was. Or Eugene, who knew where he was hiding.  
  
“Marian, are you alright?” Faith asked.  
  
He clenched his fists then slowly unclenched them. ‘Calm down…’ He thought. ‘You’ll figure this out. Just wait; soon enough you’ll get your chance.’  
  
He gasped softly as he bumped into someone and Faith let out a little squeak of alarm.  
  
“Oh, pardon me.” King Frederic chuckled, and Varian looked up at him before quickly stepping back and curtseying. The King smiled fondly and then walked on, most likely to his study.  
  
“Your Majesty,” he heard the guard saying, and he led Faith around the corner and then peeked around it to listen, “His lab has been completely cleaned out, aside from the amber.”  
  
“He could not have cleaned it out himself. He must have allies.” The King said sternly. “Most likely criminals, no one else would associate with him.”  
  
“We’ll start interrogating the thugs at the Snuggly Duckling.” The guard said calmly. “He’s young and has a way of manipulating weak-willed adults. I’m sure they know something.”  
  
“A pity that he didn’t finish that formula for a truth serum.” King Frederic said with a sigh. “We could have taken it and used it to find him.”  
  
Varian tensed, moving a hand to his pocket.  
  
“We’ll find him, Your Majesty. After all, a boy with a blue hair-stripe stands out.” The guard assured him.  
  
“Princess Rapunzel didn’t have the graphtych in her bag. _He_ must have it, wherever he’d hidden.” King Frederic concluded.  
  
“Perhaps we should hand off the Princess’s ex-criminal boyfriend to my people? We’ll get some answers out of him, for sure.” The guard purred.  
  
‘Eugene…’ Varian thought.   
  
There was nothing else to be done. He had to get Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra out _tonight_.  
  
“Perhaps we should check the maids, as well.”  
  
“The maids?”  
  
Faith clutched at Varian’s sleeve anxiously as they listened.  
  
“Gossips like those, I’m sure they’ve seen _something_. And have you seen the new little one,” Varian swallowed nervously as they listened. “ _Marian_?”  
  
“I don’t believe I have seen any maid named ‘Marian’.” King Frederic said thoughtfully. “But, then, I don’t really…memorize the names. Is she a pleasant girl?”  
  
The guard chuckled. “Well, she seems nice, but she _is_ new.”  
  
Thank goodness the king was a little slow. Thankfully, the guard didn’t hint any more after that and they started on a new topic. Varian took Faith’s hand and they left down the hall.  
  
\--  
  
“Marian!” Rapunzel said, seeing them walking up to her and Cassandra. “Is everything okay?” She asked, noticing he looked distressed.  
  
Varian shook his head. “Can we…talk in your room?” He asked softly.  
  
“Okay.” She nodded and headed off with the other three. The guards stepped aide to let her in and then Cassandra secured the door once they were inside and Faith stood by the door to keep an ear out for the guards and let them know if they spoke too loud.  
  
“Are you hurt?” Rapunzel asked once they were far enough away from the door. “Is everything okay?”  
  
“One of them…one of _them_ saw me…he recognized me. He didn’t turn me in, but he…he’s _toying_ with me. And he hinted about me to your father, but he didn’t realize what he meant. I don’t think I can keep this up.” He pulled out the truth serum. “I intended to give this to the King, somehow…”  
  
“What is it?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“It’s a truth serum.” He sighed. “But I can’t stay in the castle. If I make any suspicious moves…”  
  
“Okay…” Rapunzel nodded. “I’ll get it to him. How much do I need to put in?”  
  
“What are you planning?” Varian asked.  
  
“He _never_ turns down a cupcake from his daughter.” Rapunzel grinned.  
  
He nodded. “One drop should get you answers for an hour.”  
  
“What about the whole bottle?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Uhm…why would you waste a whole bottle?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Just curious.” Cassandra shrugged. “I mean, just in case a certain chameleon spills the whole bottle into the lemonade again.”  
  
Varian raised an eyebrow, then laughed a bit. “Ohh…you’re talking about the _mood_ potion, aren’t you?”  
  
“What, how do you know about that?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I used it as a base to make the truth serum.” Varian explained. “There were only a few drops, but it was enough to replicate the potion and modify it into this.” He turned to Rapunzel. “I’ll take care of the bars, then, and you get your father the truth serum.”  
  
She nodded. “So…what _would_ happen?”  
  
“Well, your father would be telling the truth if asked any question and also telling random truths about himself throughout the day…for up to a week.” Varian guessed. “We didn’t test it for more than an hour.”  
  
“Hmm…” Rapunzel looked at the bottle. “…Okay. I know what to do. I just need to get to the kitchen.”  
  
“I need to throw the scent off of Marian, somehow. I’m not done here in the castle yet; we still need the Sundrop Flower to fight the rocks.” He looked at her. “…Could I borrow some paint?”  
  
“Paint?” She asked curiously.  
  
He nodded. “Paint. Lots and lots of black and blue paint.”  
  
She nodded. “Faith? Can you arrange for that?” She went to get her money. “You can have it sent to…uh…where do you want it sent?”  
  
“The Snuggly Duckling. I can take it from there.” Varian nodded.  
  
Rapunzel handed Faith the money. “How are they going to know it’s for you?”  
  
Varian looked thoughtful. “…Here.” He went to grab a quill and pencil and wrote up something. It simply said “For the kid”, which he then handed to Faith. “Make sure this is sent with it. They’ll understand.”  
  
Faith accepted it, folded it up and put it in her pocket. “I’ll get started on this right away, Princess.” She said, then headed for the door.  
  
“Thank you, Faith!” Rapunzel called as she opened the door. “You’re a _big_ help!”  
  
She looked back and smiled shyly, blushing.  
  
“Alright, _Marian_ should probably be getting to her chores now. Thanks for hearing her out, Raps.” Cassandra smiled at Varian. “Did it help?”  
  
Varian nodded, smiling. “Yeah. I don’t feel so…afraid anymore. Well, that’s a lie, I still feel afraid of him. But, I feel confident that I’m not alone.” He said softly.  
  
Rapunzel hugged him tightly. “Be careful.” She whispered.  
  
He nodded. “Good luck.”  
  
She pulled away and nodded. “You too.” She smiled. “My friend.”  
  
He smiled and nodded, then adjusted his posture to “Marian” and walked to the door. “I’ll see you later, Princess.” He said in his Marian voice. The guards let him pass without any intervention or question and he headed downstairs.  
  
\--  
  
That night, the maids were sent to bed. He waited until it was late, propped up his bed to look like he was still asleep, and then slipped out. One good thing about being a maid, he found secret passages out of the castle. That, and Cassandra had whispered the location of one of them to him while they helped Rapunzel get ready for bed.  
  
He made his way out of the city carefully and back to the cottage. Once there, he stepped over the trip-wire and went to the door. A quick knock alerted Lance and he came over to open it. “You’re here.” He whispered. “The others brought over the paint for you an hour ago.”  
  
“Good.” Varian nodded. “Can you secure me a boat while I change back?”  
  
Lance nodded and headed out.  
  
Varian went to the bedroom to remove the solution from his hair and change into his own clothes. After making sure there was no trace of blonde, he put the maid outfit into a drawer and left the room.  
  
“Boat secured and paint loaded on.” Lance said as he stepped out to join him.  
  
Varian nodded. “Let’s paint some rocks.” He said as Ruddiger climbed onto his shoulders.  
  
They headed out together and went to the boat. Lance rowed them out, and they carefully made their way towards Corona. When they arrived, he docked at an obscure little dock used by criminals to get in and out and then got to work with paintbrushes and knockout gas. The patrols went down without a peep and then they were free to work.  
  
They moved from building to building, leaving their artwork on every building, every wall, even on the ground. Even the castle wasn’t safe, and they kept going until they were all out of paint. Once that was done, they escaped into the night, leaving behind only paintings and unconscious guards.  
  
\--  
  
When the sun began to rise, the people stepped out of their homes to start the day. First it was one person, then another, then more and more people stopped short and stared in horror at the black paintings all over their buildings.  
  
“What…are these?” Someone asked, reaching out to run his hand along the painting of a black rock that was in front of him.  
  
“ _That_ is what Corona will look like in only a matter of days.”  
  
They gasped and turned to see a blue fog coming from the bridge. A small figure stood on the bridge, a staff in hand with something glowing on it and barely allowing them to see the boy with the black hair and blue streak that had been populating the new wanted posters lately.  
  
“Hello, Corona.” He greeted, and more and more people came out, including the King and Queen to their balcony and Rapunzel to her window. “Something dark is coming for you. Our king has refused to acknowledge it. In the hopes of keeping his _secret_ , he has _lied_ to you and _vilified_ me.”  
  
There were murmurs in the crowd and more guards came out.  
  
“In a matter of days, Corona, what you see painted on your walls will be _more_ than just paintings. Black, indestructible rocks will burst out of the ground and destroy _everything_ ; your homes, this island and the castle itself.”  
  
“Arrest him!” The Captain called.  
  
“Old Corona has fallen because the King refused to help us. I am the last of my people in the Kingdom. Everyone else evacuated, but I chose to stay, to _warn_ you, and he spread false rumors about me. He told you all I was dangerous, so you wouldn’t listen to me. But, now I’m here to tell you of the danger that is coming your way, that destroyed my home.”   
  
There were horrified gasps in the crowd and a few people moved forward to stop the guards from advancing. “It started out small, just little rocks here and there. But then, they begin to come out larger, sharper, more frequent. Harder to dodge.” His voice was shaking a bit. Was he crying? “And the _same_ will happen to _you_! The King _knows_ what will stop them, he _knows_ what will save us, and he has done _nothing._ He would rather let us all _die_ before he admitted that he is wrong.”  
  
The guards pushed through and ran across the bridge.  
  
“If you doubt me, go to Old Corona! See for yourself!” He turned and ran into the fog and the guards ran into the fog after him. “See what your future holds and make the choice that will _save your lives_!”  
  
“Get back here!” The guards yelled.  
  
The people begin to murmur and yell. King Frederic went back into his room, clenching his fists furiously before he left it and went out to the hall, where the guard was stationed.  
  
“Find. Me. That. Boy.” He said angrily.  
  
“He’s clever, isn’t he?” The guard chuckled and walked off down the hall to join the search.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel gripped the bars on her window, feeling worried for Varian. “Please, don’t get caught…” She whispered.  
  
She looked towards where the acid had been hidden and pursed her lips. She had to get out of here. But, should she wait? He said he didn’t want anyone but him handling it, if it was possible. But, the idea of Varian being taken to High-Security made her feel sick, based on what Cassandra had heard about those guys.  
  
She missed Eugene. She hadn’t seen him all day. Was he okay? Was _Varian_ okay? What if Eugene got taken for interrogation?  
  
She spotted Lance in the crowd and, to her relief, Eugene with him. “Oh, good.” She nodded. “He’s safe.”  
  
They pointed towards the fog and then ran together, along with some other townspeople. “…What are they doing?” She asked as they led the townsfolk into the fog after Varian and the guards.  
  
\--  
  
Varian threw another fog bomb and then climbed up into a tree to hide as the guards ran by. He saw Eugene and Lance run by as well, heading for Old Corona.  
  
“If that kid was telling the truth, then we’re all doomed!” Lance egged the crowd on as they ran through the fog.  
  
Varian waited for them to be completely gone and then climbed down to head for the cottage.  
  
A hand reached out of the fog and he gasped sharply as he was grabbed and slammed into a tree. “Ngh!”  
  
“Clever, _clever_ boy.” He heard the guard from the hallway say with a chuckle, coming out of the fog to pin him in place. “Turning the people against the King, so _very_ clever.” Varian paled as he leaned in closer, cupping his cheek as his grip tightened on his shoulder. “I’m _eager_ to see how far your little game will go, little bird. How long can you evade the cage waiting for you under the castle?” He grinned. “I can’t wait to get you down there in my private hell. I’m sure the Saporian will enjoy the company, it’s been just him there for _months_. You’ll be a pleasant change of scenery, I’m sure.”  
  
“Get off me.” Varian tried to shake him off, but he just tightened his grip.  
  
“Calm yourself, little bird. I won’t turn you in.” He grinned and stroked his hair. “I prefer your hair black, though the blonde is adorable. Especially with that cute little dress. Maybe we’ll take it down there with us, hm?”  
  
He released him and Varian fell to the ground and scrambled away into the fog before he got up and fled for the cottage, the man laughing behind him as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this guy's aim? And what will happen now?


	5. Rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people grow restless as the rocks get closer and closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Despite encountering the guard in the woods, Varian managed to get to the cottage, change back into Marian, and then back to the castle before it was time for “Marian” to wake up. Actually, with all the panic outside, it was even easier than it would have been before.  
  
“Morning, Raps.” Cassandra said as she, Varian and Faith came into her bedroom.  
  
“Cass!” Rapunzel ran to her before the doors were fully closed. “Did you see what Varian did last night?!”  
  
“Yeah, wow. Talk about having a lot of time on your hands.” Cassandra joked. “Seriously, though, things have gotten a bit crazy outside. The King just gave the order to barricade the doors, and I can’t find Eugene.”  
  
“I saw him and Lance leading a group of people into the woods. I think they’re going to do as Varian said and check on Old Corona.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
Varian closed the doors behind them and walked over to start making the bed. They moved away from the doors and then Cassandra and Faith brought Rapunzel over to help her get dressed.  
  
“The paintings look good.” Rapunzel said, walking over to him. “But, how are we going to get out? Even if we melt the bars…”  
  
“They’re going to be looking for you like _crazy_ now.” Cassandra sighed. “This was _so_ risky.”  
  
“Yeah, but while they look for ‘Varian’, I can keep being ‘Marian’.” Varian sighed. “That guy…he said he won’t turn me in if he catches me. He’d rather keep letting me go until I get caught by someone else and taken down to his…’private hell’. So, I don’t have to worry about the only one to recognize me being a concern. I mean, aside from the…” He moved his hand to his shoulder. “Yeah.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “We won’t let that happen.”  
  
“I’ll keep using the secret passages to get out, and you guys will be Marian’s alibis. Rapunzel, we _need_ to get him that truth serum.” Varian nodded firmly. “Once he’s taken it, people will be too distracted with him telling the truth without being able to stop it to notice you escaping through your window. So, that’s when we use the acid.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Where will we go after that?”  
  
“I’ve set up a lab in Old Lady Gothel’s old cottage. I’m sure she doesn’t mind.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“I—uh—what?” Rapunzel stammered. “Her _what_?”  
  
“Oh, well, before you were born, she used to live in a cottage in a secluded part of the woods. Since then, only kids daring each other have gone there, and I once spent the night there during a storm. It’s a pretty nice place. Anyways, we can go there after we get the Sundrop Flower. We need to figure out how to use it to fight the rocks.” He glanced away. “And, hopefully, free my father.”  
  
Rapunzel gently pulled him into a hug. “We’ll find a way to save him, Varian. We’ll defeat the black rocks and _save_ him.”  
  
Varian nodded, hugging her back.  
  
“Alright, come on.” Cassandra prompted. “We gotta get this princess ready for the day, girls.”  
  
“Yes, Miss Cassandra.” Varian and Faith in unison, Varian using his Marian voice.  
  
\--  
  
Varian had disappeared, but his traps were all over the woods. He had guards caught in goo from the castle to Old corona and even around the site of Gothel’s tower. The boy knew the woods well and ensured that it would be difficult to find him.  
  
Arianna didn’t say anything, but he knew she had questions. But, like a dutiful Queen and wife, she kept them to herself, trusted in his choices, in his claims that the boy was truly dangerous. And, frankly, considering all he’d been doing? Even without the false accusations, he just vandalized the entire city, the entire _island_ , all without being seen by _anyone_.  
  
He _was_ dangerous, because of his _brilliant_ mind. Quirin had failed to tame him and the boy ran wild and got his own father caught in his mess. If he’d left the rocks alone, it was doubtful that Quirin would be in the wretched state he was now.  
  
The boy had moved locations. He had allies and a hiding place. The guard, Lucas, was right. He was _clever_. _Too_ clever, like his mother. He certainly had inherited her… _skills_ , that was for sure.  
  
To get him to give himself up, they had to go for the heart. But, everyone he’d ever cared about was dead, out of the question or encased in amber. And that didn’t undo the damage he’d already done. _Damn_ that kid.  
  
“If Varian is right,” Arianna said, drawing his attention to her, “then we should see to evacuation procedures.”  
  
Frederic sighed. “Will that stop them, though? Or will they chase Rapunzel to the ends of the earth? I don’t want to lose her, Arianna. We don’t know what will happen if she…if they _catch_ her. If Varian gets his way.”  
  
“ I don’t think Varian knows for sure it’s Rapunzel that he needs.” Arianna said, looking at him. “He only said that _you_ knew and told Rapunzel that the scroll said the Sundrop Flower would help.”  
  
Frederic nodded. “As you said, we should discuss evacuation with the advisors. I’d hoped that we would find another way without alerting people to the danger, but we have no choice. Not if we want to keep Rapunzel safe.”  
  
She nodded and left his side, walking to the door of their room. “I will go and check in on Rapunzel.”  
  
“Arianna…” he turned to her, “do you fault me?”  
  
She sighed. “I believe that this could have been handled in a way that would have been less of a betrayal to our friend. But, we cannot undo the damage done. The boy has suffered, by _your_ order. And you would have him suffer more.” She walked out. “Do you think Quirin would forgive you, if he were to be set free?”  
  
The door closed behind her, leaving him with those final words.  
  
\--  
  
The next move was Rapunzel’s, so Varian got into the routine of being a maid while waiting for her to get into the kitchen to bake something sweet for her dad to “calm his nerves”. As far as people knew, “Varian” was still out in the woods, setting fresh traps and running front to the guards, using fog bombs to cover his exit. Ruddiger, Lance and a few thugs from the Snuggly Duckling played the role, with Varian slipping out and to the cottage to make an appearance himself every so often.  
  
It had been three days since his announcement, and Rapunzel’s birthday was coming up very soon, in as soon as a day. The people were restless and angry and black rocks were creeping closer and closer to the town.  
  
Finally, Rapunzel managed to get into the kitchen and started to bake her father a cupcake, taking the truth serum with her. Cassandra stayed by her side, and a guard stood watch by the door “for her protection”.  
  
Was this treason? Absolutely. Drugging her father was bad enough when he wasn’t _The King_ , but she had no choice at this point. The rocks were getting closer and closer, and he was being…unreasonable.  
  
“With how things are right now, I don’t think we’ll be lighting any lanterns this year.” Faith said softly as she and Varian worked on the laundry together.  
  
“I didn’t intend for _this_ …” He looked out towards the sounds of yelling and people trying to climb the walls to get into the courtyard. “I just wanted to _warn_ people. To make them take action to _save_ themselves. I didn’t intend for them to just… _lose_ it.”  
  
“To be fair…your speech was very, uhm, alarming.” She said nervously. “And…vivid. And terrifying. And after people went down to check it out and saw the real things…the damage done, the…”  
  
Varian closed his eyes. “…Trust me…it was _worse_ watching it happen.” He opened his eyes again, a grim expression on his face. “Some people…weren’t so lucky.”  
  
She nodded. “Are you…are you okay?”  
  
He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. “No. No, I’m not.”  
  
“Can the Sundrop Flower really fight them?” She asked.  
  
“I don’t know. The scroll is only a…a _piece_ of something bigger. But, they’re connected, for sure. And the only person that would know more about the Sundrop is the one that used it before it was picked.”  
  
“Old Lady Gothel.” She nodded.  
  
He nodded. “If only ghosts _were_ real. I have _so_ many questions… _so_ much to say to her.”  
  
She shivered. “I heard the Princess sang with a ghost in the Snuggly Duckling…So…they _might_ be real.”  
  
“Oh, great. _Now,_ I have to worry about her coming up to me next to my bed, asking why I’m in her house.” Varian joked, then winced a bit as they heard some loud commotion behind the courtyard walls.  
  
A guard came over to them. “Everyone inside. It’s getting dangerous.”  
  
They got up, leaving the laundry, and hurried in at the guard’s urging. The guard didn’t go in with them, and the door was barricaded behind them and everyone else that had been ushered in.  
  
Varian went to look out a window away from the crowd, his brow furrowed.  
  
“Oh, what a show. You dangle fresh, bleeding meat in front of the tamest of beasts and they will become _violent_.”  
  
He tensed and glanced up at his tormentor. “…Hello, sir.” He said in his Marian voice.  
  
“Are you _proud_ of your handiwork, little bird?” He asked, kneeling next to him and speaking quietly. “Do you think your _father_ would be? Look at them. They’ve grown feral from fear and rage.” He wrapped an arm around Varian’s shoulders. “ _You_ caused this, you know. With your clever little show the other day. Honestly, I’m impressed.”  
  
“ _I_ didn’t cause this. This _isn’t_ my fault.” Varian pushed his arm off and turned to him. “This was caused by the King’s inaction letting things get this bad. If he’d acted sooner, before Old Corona was destroyed, then we wouldn’t be at a point of desperation. The rocks are getting closer. The people had to be _warned_. How am _I_ in the wrong here?”  
  
“Everyone, away from the windows!” A guard said, and Varian gasped as his tormentor pulled him away from the window and turned them around so he was behind him, his hand going to his sword.  
  
“Go on, little bird. It’s too dangerous here now.” He said, and Varian didn’t wait to be told twice. He fled, wincing as he heard glass breaking.  
  
Faith caught up to him and they went up to a higher floor with the others, guards blocking the stairs.  
  
“Look!” Faith cried, pointing out a window.  
  
Varian went to her side, paling. Black rocks had started to come across the bridge, stabbing through the stone. “No…” He wrapped his arms around himself, his body trembling. “No…”  
  
“Marian?” Cassandra walked up to him, Rapunzel by her side.  
  
“I’d just finished the cupcake when we were all told to leave the first floor…” Rapunzel said, holding the cupcake close. “What’s happened?”  
  
“The rocks are here.” Varian turned to her. “It’s too late…”  
  
Rapunzel gasped. “Where are Eugene and Lance?”  
  
“I-I’m not sure.” Varian looked back out the window. “Rapunzel…what are we going to do?”  
  
“I’m going to give _this_ to my father.” Rapunzel said firmly, then walked off.  
  
Cassandra gently placed her hand on Varian’s trembling shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”  
  
“ _What_ are we going to _do_?!” They heard someone cry out. “The rocks are coming, just like he said!”  
  
Varian slumped to his knees, watching as the rocks started to enter the city, stabbing through a painted rock and taking its place. A tear slipped down his cheek as he thought of Corona being just like Old Corona was.  
  
Faith knelt next to him and hugged him tightly and Cassandra reached up to pull the curtains closed. “Come on.” She urged them to get up. “Away from the window.”  
  
“I-I can’t move.” Varian admitted.  
  
“Come _on_.” Cassandra took his uninjured arm and pulled him to his feet, leading him and Faith away. “Look, we’re going to figure this out—”  
  
“No, we won’t!” He cried. It was hard to keep the fake voice on in his panic, but he somehow managed it. “Old Corona is destroyed and we’re next!”  
  
“Hey!” She clapped her hands on his cheeks. “I need you to stay calm and stay focused. We serve the castle, we don’t cause a riot, got it?”  
  
“Y-Yes, miss Cassandra.” He said shakily.  
  
She nodded, then pulled him into a hug. “ _Sun_ , you’re such a good actor.” She murmured. “Even on the verge of a breakdown, you don’t break character.”  
  
He smiled a bit, but then looked towards the window. All the curtains had been closed, and the people gathered on the second floor seemed calmer as a result.  
  
The Queen came down to see to everyone, but there was no sign of the King. Varian hoped that meant he was eating a cupcake and telling Rapunzel the truths he’d been hiding.  
  
“Is everyone alright?” Queen Arianna asked.  
  
Cassandra went to go talk to her. Varian wrapped his arms around himself and went to pull aside the curtain to look out. He could see townspeople dodging black rocks that aggressively came out of the ground.  
  
Strange…they seemed… _calmer_ when in Old Corona. Not _as_ aggressive. And they were more spread out, but _these_ rocks seemed to be headed right for the castle.  
  
They _wanted_ something in here.  
  
His brow furrowed.  
  
 ** _{The rocks are demonstrating an actual physical response…to you.}_**  
  
Oh. It all made sense now. King Frederic would _never_ put the entire Kingdom at risk for a _flower_ , but…his _daughter_? He clutched at the curtain tightly. “…They’re after Rapunzel.”  
  
A black rock cut through the wall next to the window he was in front of and he backed away. “Oh, geez…”  
  
“Ahh!” Someone screamed and Varian saw more and more black rocks coming through the walls. Someone grabbed his wrist and he looked back to see Cassandra holding onto him and pulling him along.  
  
“Miss Cassandra, wait!” He cried, and she looked at him. He looked around at the screaming people and then moved closer to her. “I know what they _want_. It’s _Rapunzel_.”  
  
A black rock burst out between them and they backed away from it. “What do you _mean_?” Cassandra asked, moving around it to rejoin him.  
  
“Rapunzel’s hair is connected to them somehow, we’ve seen that. On the hill where I showed you the rocks, in Old Corona, at the tower, they react to her. The rocks are here to find her, I’m _sure_ of it. _That’s_ why the King has been trying to keep it quiet, because he _knew_ what they were after.”  
  
“Raps.” Cassandra looked to the stairs, where black rocks had started to travel up. “Oh, _Sun_ , if you’re _right_ …come on!” She grabbed his hand to pull him along and they ran up the stairs, Varian holding his headdress on as they ran. Another black rock rose up and they had to let go of each other to avoid it cutting into their arms.  
  
“Careful, Marian!” Cassandra said as Varian moved around the rock to rejoin her.  
  
“I think, considering what just happened, we won’t hold hands.” Varian suggested.  
  
“Yeah.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
They both narrowly dodged another one shooting up between them, Varian, both of them hitting the wall on either side. Varian groaned and quickly adjusted his headdress before they ran on.  
  
“Hey, what’s the plan, exactly?” He asked as they raced to keep up with the black rocks.  
  
“We need to get Rapunzel _out_ of here.” Cassandra said, moving around a black rock. “If those things touch her, things _will_ explode.”  
  
They heard yelling and went to the King’s office. A guard was pinned against the wall by black rocks and the door was busted open. They went to the doorway just in time to see Rapunzel being surrounded by the black rocks.  
  
“Rapunzel!” They cried in unison with the King, the three of them watching in horror.  
  
The rocks closed on her and she was trapped in a terrifying, black cone. Varian walked towards the rocks, his body trembling. “Rapunzel…?” He whimpered.  
  
The rocks started to glow and then a wave of light burst out. Varian barely heard Cassandra scream his name (or was it “Marian” she said?) and then he saw thrown back and hit the wall, his vision fading.  
  
\--  
  
“…ian?”  
  
“Mmnn…” Varian slowly blinked away the darkness, looking up at Rapunzel. Her hair was glowing, and the black rocks were gone. No, not gone. They’d just sank down into the floor, pointing towards the outside.   
  
She checked him over and then hugged him. “Are you okay?”  
  
“…Are _you_?” He asked quietly, not even bothering with his fake voice. The King was here but lying unconscious on the floor. Same with Cassandra.  
  
“I…yeah.” He nodded, then picked up his headdress lying on the floor next to him. His hair had come loose, and the annoying streak was in his eyes.   
  
“…Why didn’t you _dye_ that thing?” Rapunzel asked as he pushed it out of his vision.  
  
“…I can’t.” He shrugged. “I tried, but it wouldn’t. And I can’t cut it out, either.” He admitted. “I’ve tried.”  
  
“Why didn’t you ever…never mind. Come on. To the window.” She took his hand and helped him stand and walk with her over to look out the window as her hair stopped glowing.  
  
The rocks had all flattened, pointing back to Old Corona. “…That’s weird.” He commented.  
  
“Yeah.” She nodded, then gasped and nodded to the headdress as they heard her father groan.  
  
Varian tucked the streak back under his hair and pulled the headdress on before going to help Cassandra up while Rapunzel helped her father.  
  
“What…what happened?” He asked.  
  
“The rocks, uh, listened to me. I mean…they sank into the floor and…well…” She pointed out the window. He went over to look, paling a bit. “I think they’re leading me somewhere.”  
  
“…No.” He shook his head. “No, no. I _won’t_ have this.” He turned to her. “I _won’t_ have you disappear on me again; I won’t let _anyone_ take you away from me again! Not that _witch_ , not _Varian_ , and not _those rocks!_ I REFUSE to let anything else happen to you!” He grabbed her arms. “I want you to go to your room and _stay_ there.”  
  
“No, dad, I _have_ to _go_!” She cried.  
  
“The rocks seem to have calmed down. I _won’t_ let you go off into danger, where I could lose you forever!” He nodded to a dazed-looking guard. “Take Princess Rapunzel to her room. Double the guard! And _find that boy_ and _lock him up_!”  
  
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard came over to take Rapunzel’s hand. “This way, Your Highness.  
  
“Dad, no, you have to listen!” She cried as she was pulled away.  
  
Varian and Cassandra followed her out, stopping to curtsy to the King before they left after her.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel flopped onto her bed with a cry of outrage as the doors slammed shut behind her.  
  
“Why won’t he just LISTEN?!” She banged her fist on the bed.  
  
Varian walked to the window. “…Did you give him the cupcake?”  
  
“Yeah. And I used the whole bottle.” She nodded firmly.  
  
“Then we leave tonight.” He turned to her. “We leave and go to Gothel’s cottage.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “We should find out what’s going on in Old Corona, too.”  
  
“I have eyes and ears, they can check for us.” Varian shook his head. “It’s too dangerous for us to go right now.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Okay.” She sat up. “I just…I can’t _believe_ he locked me up! Doesn’t he understand that the rocks want me to _go_?”  
  
“Clearly. That’s why he locked you up, so you can’t follow them.” Varian looked out the window. “Looks like the people have calmed down now that the rocks have all flattened. Still, with the truth serum, we’ll be hearing all _kinds_ of truths spouted.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “That was… _really_ scary.”  
  
“Yeah, well, try dealing with it for _months_.” Varian said bitterly.  
  
“If I’d known about this s _ooner_ …” She got up. “Varian…”  
  
“No, Rapunzel. _You_ didn’t know anything _about_ this.” He turned to her. “But, I think it’s time we find out what _he_ knows.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “You’re the one with the most freedom right now, ironically. Be careful.”  
  
He nodded. “I’ll let you know what I find out.” He turned to her and hugged her tightly.  
  
“Before you go,” Cassandra walked over and led him over to sit at the mirror before she removed the headdress and started to fix his hair with hairpins, putting his hair into a bun that hid in the headdress. “There.” She nodded. “By the way, what’s the deal with the stripe?”  
  
“I have no idea, it’s in a picture of me when I was baby.” Varian shrugged. “I guess I was born with it. It won’t dye and it won’t cut.”  
  
“Okaaaay, I think that’s something we should _talk_ about sometime.” Cassandra decided. “Not now, though. You’re ready to get back to work.”  
  
Varian nodded, getting up and then adopting his Marian voice and posture. “Well then, Miss Cassandra, Your Highness. I’ll be getting back to work.”  
  
They nodded and he headed for the doors. He opened them and then stepped past the guards, completely undisturbed, the guards closing it behind her.  
  
He walked on until he reached the end of the hall and then let out a soft sigh. “…Okay. I got this.” He headed down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where are the rocks leading? Can Rapunzel escape and find out?


	6. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the rocks burst into the castle, a high-profile prisoner escaped. After meeting him by chance, Varian decides it's time to break out Rapunzel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

With the rocks having flattened, the people had calmed down and things could, somewhat, return to normal. Things were still tense between the people in town and the Royal Guard, but they could safely open the doors without anyone from the castle being mobbed.  
  
“Marian!” Faith came up to him. “Is everything alright?”  
  
“Uh, yeah.” Varian nodded. “The Princess got locked up again, but she…uh…” He looked unsure. “She seems okay.”  
  
She nodded. “What happened?”  
  
His brow furrowed before he tried, to the best of his knowledge, to explain what had happened in the King’s office. He was so distracted talking to her he didn’t notice a shadow falling over them until Faith squeaked in alarm. Sighing, he looked up with a resigned expression. “Hello, sir.” He greeted.  
  
“Lucas.” His tormentor grinned at him, “Call me Lucas.”  
  
“Lucas!” Another guard ran up to them. “We have a _problem_.”  
  
“What is it?” Lucas asked.  
  
“When the rocks bust into the castle, it put a _hole_ in a _certain wall_.” The guard said, moving closer to him. “We lost the you-know-what.”  
  
Lucas hissed. “Sorry, ladies, I have to go.” He turned and ran off with the guard. “How long ago?!”  
  
“We don’t know, we just found out! The guards stationed in there fled from the black rocks!”  
  
“Wow, things are really _exciting_ today!” Varian heard Stan the guard saying. “Black rocks, escaped prisoners, what’s next?”  
  
“Don’t say ‘what’s next’, that’ll just cause something ‘else’ to go badly!” Pete the guard replied as they passed by the two maids.  
  
“Okay…I’m new.” Varian looked at Faith. “ _Who_ escaped?”  
  
“Well…judging by their urgency, it was _probably_ the Saporian.” Faith shrugged.  
  
“…Saporian?” Varian raised an eyebrow.  
  
\--  
  
With things calmed down, preparations for the festival were back on. No matter how they felt about the King, they still loved their Princess and so they were ready and willing to celebrate her birthday tomorrow. Varian and Faith were sent out to go and pick flowers for decorations and they walked into the woods together.  
  
“We better watch out; we might run into that Varian guy.” Varian joked as they walked together.  
  
“Did you hear that he can turn you to stone by looking at you?” Faith gasped dramatically.  
  
“Wait, is that a real thing people are saying?” Varian asked, laughing a bit.  
  
“Yes.” Faith nodded.  
  
“I haven’t heard _that_ before.” He said thoughtfully.  
  
They entered a field of flowers and started to fill up their baskets, Varian helpfully directing her to the flowers, not the weeds. The wind blew and Faith cried out as her headdress flew off, Varian holding his own as it blew.  
  
“I’ll get it.” Varian said, getting up and going to where it landed by a tree. “Phew, it flew far, huh?” He knelt to pick it up and then gasped as he felt the familiar feeling of metal against his neck.  
  
“Stay quiet.” An unfamiliar voice said. “I need you to get me out of Corona. I need a ship.”  
  
“I-I’m just a castle maid, sir.” He said shakily.  
  
“Which means you can move freely around town. Get me a ship and then come back here.”  
  
He glanced back at the cloaked figure behind him. “…Who are you, sir?”  
  
“Does it matter?” He hissed. “I tried to go through the broken wall by Old Corona, but it’s heavily guarded.”  
  
“Broken wall?” Varian’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”  
  
“You ask a _lot_ _of questions_ for someone with a _sword_ at their neck.” The stranger pointed out irritably. His hand was trembling, making the sword shake a bit.  
  
Varian slowly looked over his shoulder. “And if you actually wanted to hurt me, you _would_ have by now. I won’t tell anyone you’re here. It’s okay.” He said, using his normal voice. “I’m on the run, too.”  
  
The sword shifted, then moved away before disappearing back into the cloak. He turned and the stranger took off their hood to reveal a man with long hair and a ragged appearance. “Who are you?” He asked.  
  
“Andrew. You?” He asked.  
  
“Varian.” Varian nodded. “You’re the escaped Saporian, aren’t you?”  
  
“And you’re the kid that attacked the princess.” Andrew looked over at Faith. “Does she know?”  
  
“She’s a friend.” Varian nodded.  
  
“Can she help?” He looked at Varian.  
  
“I know of a secret dock that criminals use to get in and out of the city.” Varian admitted.  
  
“Then, _why_ are you _still here_?” Andrew laughed a bit in disbelief.  
  
“Because I went undercover to get a truth serum into the King’s drink. I ended up having to ask my friend, the Princess, get it to him somehow instead.” He glanced around. “I can’t help you right now but lay low until tonight. They’re watching for anyone trying to leave the Kingdom, so I’ll take you to my hiding place. I have to finish this task and then get back to the castle, find out what the King has been saying.”  
  
“Huh. Well, if he mentions Saporia, let me know.” He pulled his hood back up. “I’ll wait here, as you said. I’m going to trust you to not turn me in.”  
  
“Thank you.” Varian picked up the headdress and turned to go.  
  
“Question, though?” Andrew spoke up, and Varian looked over. “I thought ‘Varian’ was a black-haired boy with a blue stripe in his bangs and freckles?”  
  
“It’s called a disguise.” He nodded. “It’s ‘Marian’, by the way.” He spoke with his Marian voice. “Good day, sir.”  
  
He nodded and then disappeared into the shadows again. Varian headed back to Faith and put the headdress back on for her.  
  
“What was _that_ about?” Faith asked.  
  
“The Saporian.” Varian looked over. “He’s not dangerous, his hand was shaking when he held the sword to my neck.”  
  
“I heard he tried to kill Miss Cassandra. He held the sword over her head.” Faith said, looking unsure of his claim.  
  
Varian looked over at where Andrew was, then went back to picking flowers. “Don’t know about that, but I’ve had enough swords held to my neck by now to know the difference between a confident hand and someone that doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He just broke out of prison. Or, well, the black rocks broke him out.”  
  
They finished and headed back.  
  
\--  
  
Apparently, Nigel was quick to silence the King when he started blurting out truths. The King was taken to his office and hadn’t left it since. To Varian’s disappointment, all people had gotten was some brutal honest opinions. Still, at least he was out of the way and wouldn’t be able to give _any_ orders.   
  
So, the next move was to go to Rapunzel’s room after dinner and put acid on her bars. He hadn’t seen Eugene around, so he guessed he was at the cottage with Lance.  
  
“Sure hope Gothel doesn’t mind all these people in her old home.” He mumbled. If _anything_ would get the woman to come back as a ghost and start berating him, it would be a _crowd_. He mentally rolled his eyes at the very thought.  
  
He got to the door carrying dinner for Rapunzel and the guards stepped aside to let him in. Once inside, he handed off the food to Rapunzel and went straight to the window.  
  
“Alright…eat up.” He went to get out the acid. “We’ve got a long walk ahead of us.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Thank you.” She started to eat while Varian got to work on melting the bars with the acid.  
  
Cassandra walked over to Rapunzel. “I’m going to go to my room and change. Meet you outside?”  
  
Rapunzel nodded.  
  
Cassandra nodded and left the room, Varian pausing in his work until the door was closed again. Then he went back to it. By the time Rapunzel finished, he’d burnt a hole in the bars big enough for Rapunzel to crawl out and he crawled out ahead of her.  
  
“Come on, Pascal.” Rapunzel said, picking him up and crawling through the hole.  
  
“Alright…” Varian looked at her. “Can you get us down from here?”  
  
She let down her hair and looped it around the railing. “Come here and hang on.”  
  
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, looking a bit worried. “So, uh, we’re not going to free-fall, right?”  
  
“No free-falling this time.” She assured him. “Just hang on.” She wrapped her arm around his waist, got up onto the railing and then they swung down. Varian kept his mouth shut and hung on tighter as they swung down to the ground.  
  
They got down and Rapunzel pulled her hair loose and down to join her. A guard saw them and ran over, but she lassoed him and slammed him into another guard before taking off running, grabbing Varian’s wrist as they ran across thew bridge, Rapunzel using her hair as a whip to knock guards out of the way.  
  


They heard Maximus and Fidella as Owl flew overhead and then Cassandra caught up on Fidella. She offered Varian a hand as she passed and he grabbed on, letting her pull him up as Rapunzel got onto Maximus and then they fled into the woods.  
  
“Okay, kid, where to?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Hold on.” Varian signaled and a fog bomb was thrown before Ruddiger hopped down and landed on Fidella and then up onto his shoulders. “Okay. Before we go to the cottage, I promised someone I would give them shelter until things calmed down and they could escape the Kingdom.”  
  
“Alright, where are they?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel had to admit, she didn’t expect this. Varian directed them to a flower field and then got down to approach a tree, where a cloaked figure came out to speak to him. She couldn’t hear what all was said, but after a bit the cloaked figure pulled down the hood and revealed himself to be…  
  
“Andrew?” She got down from Maximus and walked over to him. “What…?” She reached up to gently cup his face in her hands.  
  
He had been beaten, brutally. He had bruises and black eyes and a broken nose and a split lip and she couldn’t see any further down because of the cloak. His hair was loose and had grown a bit longer than she last saw and his immaculate facial hair was scraggly and ragged. He flinched back at her touch, but relaxed after a bit and let her look him over.   
  
“Princess Rapunzel.” He greeted softly.  
  
“What…what happened to you?” She asked.  
  
“High-Security is hell.” He glanced away.  
  
“Come on, we have to get going.” Varian told him. “Rapunzel, do you mind if he rides with you?”  
  
“Uh-no. That’s fine.” She nodded. “Come on.” She moved her hands away from his face and they went to get on Maximus, with Varian climbing back onto Fidella.  
  
“Maybe we should’ve brought Faith.” Rapunzel said as they rode off.  
  
“It’s bad enough she helped me at all. If she left with us, she’d be a criminal.” Varian said grimly. “But, she’ll be okay. As far as people know, you left with Marian and Varian has been in the woods this whole time. Faith has nothing to do with it, she was busy with her other chores.”  
  
Andrew winced, moving a hand to his side. “Are you okay?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I’m fine. The horse’s movements are just twinging a wound.” He said softly.  
  
“Cass, switch with me.” Varian said.  
  
They stopped and they swapped places, with Cassandra behind Varian while he took the reins. Then they took off again, Varian leading them to Gothel’s cottage. They heard footbeats behind them and Varian held up a hand. Another fog bomb fell to the ground and went off, keeping the pursung guards from seeing where they went. Whoever threw it got down on the ground and ran alongside of them.  
  
“Hey, Blondie.” Eugene said as he ran alongside them. “Whoa, is that…? What’s Andrew doing here?”  
  
“I promised him sanctuary.” Varian explained.  
  
“Okay, then. Don’t question it.” Eugene pulled out another glowing orb and threw it over his shoulder, creating more fog to cover their path.  
  
Finally, they lost the guards and Eugene got on behind Cassandra and Varian as the rode in the silence, with crickets and hoofbeats and Owl’s hooting as he fled overhead being the sounds.  
  
They reached a river fork and Varian directed them to where Rapunzel and Cassandra had never been before. Then they followed the river until it became a stream that surrounded a cottage in a secluded location.   
  
“Jump!” Varian said, and Fidella leapt right over the trap with Maximus following suit. Then they leapt across the stream and stopped. Varian climbed down before the others and went to the door, knocking twice. Someone looked through the curtain and then the door was opened before Lance pulled him into a relieved hug.  
  
“Hey.” He smiled. “I’m ready to put Marian into storage now.”  
  
“Might need her later.” Lance shrugged.  
  
“Well, I don’t need to go back to the castle.” Varian looked at Rapunzel as she got down. She helped Andrew down and gasped as he slumped against her in pain. “Is he okay?”  
  
“Let’s get him inside.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
They all went in, even the horses, and Lance closed the door once they were all in.  
  
“What is this place?” Cassandra asked as they walked in.  
  
“Well, it used to be Gothel’s cottage, until she abandoned it to kidnap a baby.” Varian rolled his yes. “All that time…honestly. And people talk about _my_ acting?” He walked off to the bedroom. “I’m going to change back.” He closed the door.  
  
“Anyone know what he’s talking about?” Eugene asked.  
  
Rapunzel shrugged, and went to lay Andrew down on the couch before she unfastened the cloak. She sucked in a breath as she saw blood forming from under his shirt and looked at Eugene helplessly.  
  
“I got it.” Eugene went to him. “Lance, do we have any—”  
  
“Yep.” Lance got up and went to get the first-aid kit.  
  
Cassandra examined a broken music box on a table. “What’s this?”  
  
“Oh, that’s a music box that was on the floor. Varian plans to repair it, I guess.” Lance explained.  
  
Cassandra looked it over thoughtfully. “Huh.”  
  
The door opened and Varian came back out, looking like himself and back in his normal clothes. “Right.” He adjusted his gloves. “So, we’re all here, we escaped the castle. Great. Unfortunately, Nigel is _very good_ at taking care of the King’s best interests and he had him put in his room and claimed him to be ‘sick’ when he started telling people truths he normally wouldn’t. So, didn’t get much out of _that_ , but at least we’re out.” He shrugged.  
  
“What now?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Now? We take a bit of time to actually _rest_ and figure out what we’re doing next. Maybe take the time to explore that door I found when I was cleaning the other day.” Varian walked over to Andrew. “You okay?”  
  
“Do I _look_ like I am?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“I got this.” Lance nudged everyone away and then undid Andrew’s belt to pull up his shirt. Eugene quickly turned Rapunzel and Varian away, looking ill.  
  
“There’s food in the cupboards, I brought it from the Snuggly Duckling. Atilla brought some pastries, too.” Lance said as he worked. “Geez, they really hurt you, man…”  
  
“I was just lucky those black rocks broke in when they did. They were talking about…well, not saying it when there’s a kid here.” Andrew hissed in pain.  
  
“So…Gothel lived here, huh?” Eugene said as he led Varian and Rapunzel over to the kitchen.  
  
“Yeah. I never knew her when she did, that was before I was born, but all the kids in Old Corona knew about the old place.” Varian chuckled. “You should’ve seen her face when I told her I stayed the night here once.”  
  
“Wait, you _knew_ her?” Eugene asked in surprise.  
  
“Yeah.” Varian nodded. “She often passed through Old Corona and spent the night at the manor with me and dad.” He got out a pastry and eagerly took a bite out of it.  
  
“Right…I have a _lot_ of questions.” Rapunzel said, and Varian looked at her. “First, you _knew Gothel_?!”  
  
“I _just_ explained that.” He looked annoyed.  
  
“Secondly, what’s with the indestructible streak?!” She gestured to it.   
  
“I don’t know.” He handed her a pastry and walked over to sit down in a chair.  
  
“So…” Rapunzel walked over and leaned on his chair. “You said that you knew Gothel growing up? So...you have some stories, maybe?”  
  
“Mmhm.” He nodded.  
  
“Maybe this should wait until tomorrow.” Cassandra suggested. “It’s late, we’re all tired, and I get the feeling you’re going to be asking for a _lot_ of stories.”  
  
“Where is everyone gonna sleep?” Lance realized. “We only have two beds.”  
  
“We’ll figure it out.” Eugene said. “We should give Andrew one of the beds, though, since he’s wounded. Maybe let the kid have the other bed.”  
  
“Shouldn’t the _Princess_ have the other bed?” Varian asked.  
  
“Aha, I’m not going to have Rapunzel sleeping in the same room as Andrew.” Eugene said, shaking his head.  
  
“I’ll be okay.” Rapunzel assured them. “Do we have extra blankets?”  
  
“Yeah.” Varian got up and went to get them.  
  
Cassandra walked over to look over the injured Saporian. “…I didn’t know they put you in High-Security.” She admitted. “I thought you went to a normal jail cell.”  
  
“They were…interrogating me daily. They wanted the location of my people, so they could destroy our stronghold.” Andrew said, wincing in pain.  
  
“Sorry, I’m trying to be as gentle as possible.” Lance smiled apologetically.  
  
“No, it…it’s fine.” Andrew assured him.  
  
“Andrew, are you hungry?” Varian asked, coming out of a side room with extra blankets.  
  
“Wait, have these been washed?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Yes, we cleaned the place and did all the laundry.” Varian rolled his eyes.  
  
“Okay, good. Because I don’t know if I want to have Gothel dust on me.” Eugene made a face.  
  
“Don’t be rude to her in her own house. Go outside and do that.” Varian handed him a blanket.  
  
“Kid, she’s _dead_. She’s _dust_.” Eugene raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Yeah, _and_? Keep talking like that and her _ghost_ will _haunt_ us.” Varian handed Rapunzel and Cassandra blankets.  
  
“Like, _literal_ dust, she de-aged so fast into _nothing_.” Eugene went on, not seeming to notice Varian was getting irritated.  
  
“Eugene.” Rapunzel said sharply, and he stopped. “I know that she kidnapped me…but she _did_ raise me. And I think Varian was fond of her, too. Please, stop.”  
  
“…Right. Sorry, Sunshine. I’m just…” He sighed and sat down by the door with his blanket. “Kind of tense.”  
  
She sighed. “…Yeah, me too.”  
  
Lance lifted Andrew into his arms and carried him into the other room. “Privacy.” He told them as he closed the door.  
  
“So…uhm, sorry if I upset you with my…bad joke.” Eugene said awkwardly.  
  
“It’s fine.” Varian walked over to fiddle with the music box.  
  
Cassandra walked over to him. “So…did she live alone, before?”  
  
“No one saw her home life, just her home after she left. And she never mentioned living with anyone, but she certainly flirted. A lot. Sometimes with my dad.” Varian said as he grabbed his tools and started to fix it.  
  
“I just…this place feels kind of…familiar.” She admitted. “I dunno, maybe I just visited here before as a kid like you did and forgot.”  
  
“Hm.” He shrugged. “I mean, there’s a kid’s bed in the other room.” He looked at her, looking her up and down. “It’s possible.” He went back to working on the music box. “I didn’t find anything to prove it, though you can go through the dresses and see if anything rings a bell.”  
  
“Right.” She went to the door, then stopped. “…Andrew is still being treated, isn’t he?”  
  
“Might be a good idea to wait until Lance comes out.” Varian nodded. “In the meantime, look around the shelves and stuff. Maybe you’ll see something you recognize.”  
  
Cassandra nodded and started walking around. Rapunzel walked over with Varian and sighed. “So…any theories about the hair?”  
  
“No idea.” Varian shrugged. “Maybe we can ask Gothel, if you want to attempt a séance.”  
  
“You _believe_ in those?” Eugene asked.  
  
“No.” Varian shook his head. “I don’t believe in ghosts, either, but I hear Ruthless Ruth is a beautiful singer.”  
  
“Oh, she is.” Rapunzel smiled dreamily. “Or, well, _was_. She passed on.” She nodded.  
  
“So, I figure, if ghosts are _real_ …maybe Old Lady Gothel isn’t gone forever, after all.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Why do you keep calling her ‘Old Lady’?” Eugene asked.  
  
“ _All_ the local kids call her that.” Varian said in a distracted way. “But, _I_ mostly did it to mess with her.”  
  
“So…” Rapunzel walked over and leaned on the table he was working at. “I bet you have a _lot_ of stories of her life outside the tower all those years, then.” She prompted eagerly.  
  
He looked at her. “Mm, I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay? I’m just getting this done while I think of our next move.” He looked back at the music box. “According to Andrew, the black rocks broke open the wall surrounding Corona, but it’s heavily guarded. If we’re going to get out there and find out where they came from…well, I want to see if I can find anything Gothel might have on it. She lived here when she was still using the flower in its original form, so she _has_ to have something on it _somewhere_. Maybe beyond that door.”  
  
Rapunzel yawned a bit. “Well, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” She walked over and joined Eugene, sitting down next to him and snuggling up under his blanket with him, resting her head on his shoulder. He smiled and kissed her sweetly.  
  
Cassandra walked over and leaned against the table. “You seem to be pretty calm about this whole thing.”  
  
“The rocks are flat now and no longer a danger and we’re safe from the castle guards here.” He set down his tools and examined it thoughtfully before he went to a shelf and picked up a small object. He put it into the music box and wound it up and then a song started to play.  
  
Cassandra let out a shuddering breath and he looked at her as she stared at the music box. He stepped to the side, letting her have it, and went to check in on Andrew.  
  
Lance looked up as the door opened and smiled. “He’s all wrapped up, dressed and fast asleep.” He informed him.  
  
“Good.” Varian nodded. “Hopefully, we can get him out of Corona.”  
  
Lance nodded, getting up and walking over to him. “You should sleep, little buddy. I’ll be out there, okay?”  
  
Varian nodded, walking over to climb into bed, removing his gloves, apron, goggles and boots as he did and setting them to the side. After climbing under the covers, he looked over at the injured Saporian, his brow furrowing. What had this guy done to deserve being put through such a brutal beating? Kept quiet? On the other hand, Varian was beat a similar way for _not_ keeping quiet.  
  
He sighed and closed his eyes as Ruddiger came in and hopped on his bed, getting comfortable. ‘Stupid Frederic…’ He thought. ‘I _hate_ him…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are they going to get past the guards? And what stories does Varian have about Gothel from his childhood?  
> Furthermore, what's beyond the mysterious door?
> 
> The questions keep coming!


	7. Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After taking a rest to recover from their escape, Varian opens up about his time knowing Gothel, while Lance prepares a surprise for Rapunzel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

The next morning, Lance woke them all up with the delicious aroma of a homecooked meal. Varian got out of bed and went to check on Andrew. “Hey, uh, Andrew?” He asked, trying to wake him with his voice. When that didn’t work, he placed his hand on his shoulder.  
  
His eyes snapped open and he jerked away, looking terrified for a moment before he seemed to realize where he was. Varian waited patiently for him to come to his senses and then he smiled when the man nodded in greeting. “Hey, feel up to eating? I know you were running on adrenaline yesterday.”  
  
“…Food.” He nodded, stepping off the bed. “Yes. Thank you.”  
  
Varian nodded and walked with him to join the others.  
  
“Morning!” Lance greeted as he served everyone.  
  
“Cass, did you sleep?” Varian asked, looking at her.  
  
“Uh, no. I kept watch.” She shook her head. “Well, half the night. Lance gave me something and it put me to sleep.”  
  
“Well, as long as you slept.” Varian nodded.   
  
“No sign of any old lady ghost.” Eugene said jokingly. “Maybe she’s not around.”  
  
Varian helped Andrew sit down and Lance brought over some food. “Were you this badly hurt before?”  
  
Andrew nodded. “I just…hid it better.” He admitted. “I wasn’t safe. And…” He glanced at Rapunzel. “I… _think_ I’m safe, now?”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, smiling. “You’re safe.”  
  
Eugene looked at him sympathetically and walked over to sit next to him. “With those wounds, you might need some help with your grooming. Want me to help you with that after breakfast?”  
  
Andrew nodded. “If it’s not a trouble.”  
  
Eugene shook his head and then went back to his food.  
  
“So, I went out earlier and did a…what was it? A perry…” Rapunzel looked at Cassandra.  
  
“A ‘perimeter check’.” Cassandra supplied helpfully.  
  
“Yeah, that. I didn’t see any sign we’d been followed here.” Rapunzel nodded.  
  
“Of course you didn’t. I picked this location because no adult _goes_ here. And, even if they _did_ , they’d get caught in my traps.” Varian said casually.   
  
“They came here before, though, didn’t they?” Cassandra asked. “When…when it was abandoned?”  
  
Varian shrugged. “I never asked her about why she left the old place. Maybe I should’ve, there’s a _lot_ I didn’t know.” Varian admitted. “Like about her having a child before, or kidnapping Rapunzel…”  
  
“Well… _I_ didn’t know she had a life outside the tower. I mean, I knew she _left_ it a lot, but…I didn’t know what _kind_ of…I mean, she _certainly_ never mentioned knowing any other _kids_.” Rapunzel nodded. “If I’d _known_ …I dunno, maybe I would’ve begged to _meet_ you.”  
  
Pascal squeaked something and Ruddiger chittered in reply, the two of them sitting together to eat. Maximus and Fidella were both outside with their own food, out of sight of anyone coming into the area.  
  
Lance hummed as he finished feeding everyone and then went back to the kitchen to work on something else.  
  
Varian chuckled a bit. “Yeah, would’ve been nice to meet _you_ sooner, too.”  
  
“I dunno, she was kind of a mess.” Eugene said teasingly. “Might’ve been _too much_ for you.”  
  
“Eugene…” Rapunzel pouted at him.  
  
Cassandra went to look out the window. “So…you said you’d talk to us about her? About what you knew of her?”  
  
“Cassandra, you seem oddly invested in this.” Eugene remarked.  
  
“Probably because she was stolen from Gothel when this place was attacked by the Royal Guard back then.” Varian said thoughtfully. “She recognized the music box.” He watched as Cassandra walked over to turn it on. “I think she’s Gothel’s real daughter.”  
  
“The Royal Guard _stole_ her?” Rapunzel gasped.  
  
“Best I can figure, based on the evidence. The broken music box by the door and everything left without any packing being done doesn’t bode well. They probably intended to use her as a hostage but changed their minds when the Captain grew soft for her. He decided to keep her for himself, and I guess the shock of it all made her…forget.”  
  
“Sounds about right for Corona.” Andrew said, wincing a bit as he started to get up. Eugene took his empty dish and went to get him more food.  
  
Rapunzel hung her head. “…You know…before we _rescued_ you, and before… _everything_ , I would’ve insisted that my father—that the _Captain_ would _never do such a thing_. But…” She clutched at her skirt, her body trembling. “But, _now_? After seeing how _terrified_ you were? After seeing them around your _home_ , after they _demanded_ we hand you over? And with my father ordering you be locked up in…in _High-Security_ when you were caught?” She looked over at Andrew, then looked at Varian. “I can believe that. And, Cass…I…”  
  
“It’s…it’s not _your_ fault I was _kidnapped_ , Rapunzel.” Cassandra placed her hand on the music box. “And Mother…she couldn’t exactly come _find_ me in the _Capital_. Not with me being watched over by the Royal Guard. If they’d _caught_ her, she would have been _killed_ and I _still_ wouldn’t have her. At least she was _alive_ , up until you escaped the tower.” She looked over at Rapunzel. “…How did it happen?”  
  
“When Eugene cut my hair while I was using my power, she was holding onto it. The magic reversed its effects and she…she aged _so fast_. She tripped on my cut hair and fell out the window, but by _that_ time she was…there was only _dust_ at the bottom.” Rapunzel clutched at her arms. “It happened so fast…and the magic stole away her life so quickly, after she’d used it for _so long_ to keep herself alive.”  
  
Cassandra left the music box and sat next to her. “Hey…it’s…it’s okay, Raps. You didn’t _mean_ to…you didn’t know.”  
  
“I was just trying to heal Eugene…I didn’t know she was holding it, I didn’t know cutting it would _do_ that…” She sobbed softly. “I’m so _sorry_ , Cass…and Varian, I’m _sorry_ that _you_ lost her, too.”  
  
“ _I’m_ sorry that Cass didn’t get to _know_ her.” Varian frowned. “But, that’s the fault of the Royal Guard, I suppose.” He set down his empty dish. “I guess I was four years old when she started coming by? That’s when I remember seeing her, at least. My mom had disappeared, oh, a few months before and I guess she decided to flirt with my dad. He turned her down, but helped her with other things. He let her stay the night in the manor, never questioned why she would even _need_ to if she had a place around here somewhere.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s questionable.” Eugene remarked, handing Andrew more food. He started to eat it gratefully.  
  
“Anyways, I didn’t talk to her much then. I was pretty distant from, well, _everyone_. I was a weird kid, my mom had…disappeared recently, and my dad was always busy. But, when I was almost five years old, she came into my lab where she found me trying to connect with my mom through her alchemy. I thought she, like dad, would tell me to stop, but she just pulled up a chair next to mine and turned the page to another formula, saying it’d be easier for a starter.” He smiled fondly. “She was the first person to not tell me to let go of my mother and give up on alchemy.”  
  
“Wow…” Rapunzel breathed. “She never told _me_ anything like that. But, then…she _was_ trying to keep me from wanting to leave. And _my_ big dream was to follow some lights that showed up every year on my birthday. She _did_ encourage my painting, though! She kept bringing me back paints and brushes and she taught me how to sew and…I guess she _was k_ ind of supportive, in a detached way.”  
  
“She was always detached.” Varian shrugged. “I think it comes with her age.” He grinned in a mischievous way. “Everyone called her ‘Old Lady Gothel’ because she _was_ old, and she sometimes acted like it. But, I was the only kid she tolerated doing that. Usually she got offended and walked away from the kid that called her that, but she just called _me_ a brat and asked when I would learn some manners. I was the mayor’s son, why didn’t I have any respect? Then I would call her ‘Miss Gothel’ and be super-polite for the rest of the night until she told me to stop.” He chuckled at the memory. “She kept coming and going, never telling about what she did while in Corona, but telling lots of stories of the outside. She got me my first Flynn Rider book for my fifth birthday.”  
  
“Aww!” Rapunzel cooed.  
  
Cassandra smiled, listening quietly next to Rapunzel.  
  
“Oh, man, speaking of five-year-old Varian?” Varian chuckled. “I must’ve been… _fearless_ or something! I was in the woods and she came running out of the treeline with a _wolf_ right behind her. She bumped into me and we both fell to the ground and she gathered up her basket and then moved in front of me protectively. And little Varian, well, he stepped forward and yelled ‘GO AWAY’ at the wolf. And it left! Then I just looked up at her like “It’s okay, it’s gone now’. She looked like she was going to _faint_ , told me off for putting myself in danger and then took me back home.”  
  
Lance laughed. “Oh, I can picture that! Little toddler Varian yelling at a wolf. It was so confused that it didn’t know what to do!”  
  
Varian nodded, chuckling. “Ah…we, uh…we spent quite a bit of time together when I was growing up. She taught me what plants were safe to pick and what would be good to try in alchemy and told me that I was _so smart_ , she hadn’t seen someone as smart as me in a long, long time. Then I asked her _how_ long and she cleared her throat and changed the subject!” He grinned.  
  
“Who knows, really? She had the flower a long time.” Eugene nodded.  
  
“Dad was always so busy running the town and harvesting and…he kept running off somewhere but wouldn’t let me go with. He said I ‘wasn’t ready’. That…became a common theme, really. I was _always_ ‘not ready’.” He looked down, clenching his fists, then looked up at them. “But, she helped ease the heartache. When she was at my place, I mean. Then there was one time when I was ten years old, and I messed up a farmer’s crops trying to help with alchemy…I don’t remember what happened, but dad was furious with him for a _while_. I heard Gothel found me asleep in the woods and took me in for a bit while dad was away in the Capital, then he came and got me. Maybe if I’d woken up…”  
  
“I guess it must’ve been when I was asleep.” Rapunzel said thoughtfully. “Because I definitely don’t remember seeing you.”  
  
Varian shrugged. “Anyways, I’d probably fill an entire _book_ with stories about Gothel and me. Maybe I _will_ , so that you can read it and…I dunno, be there in spirit?”  
  
“That’d be great!” Rapunzel smiled.  
  
“So, is storytime over?” Lance asked. “Because, you know, if you wanna keep going that’d be fine. I won’t be done with this cake for a little bit.”  
  
“Cake?” Varian looked over.  
  
“Well, yeah. It’s Princess Rapunzel’s birthday. Even if she’s not getting a big birthday bash, we can still light some lanterns in here and serve cake.” Lance grinned. “It was Eugene’s idea.”  
  
“Eugeeeene!” She got up and went to hug him.  
  
“This is more than just a birthday, though.” Eugene smiled. “It’s also the anniversary of when we rode that boat together.” He kissed her sweetly.  
  
“Oh, gag me.” Cassandra made a face.  
  
Rapunzel giggled a bit.  
  
Varian smiled. “And after we have cake, who wants to explore a creepy door?”  
  
“Maybe we should wait until Andrew’s feeling a little better.” Rapunzel suggested. “We don’t want him to miss out.”  
  
“I’m well enough to walk.” Andrew assured her. “I don’t want to make you wait to explore something cool on your birthday, after all.”  
  
“No, we’ll wait.” Rapunzel insisted. “Missing out on it on my birthday wouldn’t bother me, but having a friend irritate his injuries more _would_.”  
  
“We’re friends, Princess?” Andrew asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
She nodded. “Yeah! We’re friends!”  
  
Andrew smiled softly. “Okay…we’re friends.”  
  
“Hey, if _today_ is your _birthday_ , then that means _tomorrow_ …” Varian looked to the side a bit. “It’s the anniversary of her death, isn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah.” Cassandra nodded. “Should we… _do_ something for it?”  
  
“Light a candle?” Varian shrugged. “Say some things about her?”  
  
“ _Nice_ things, right?” Eugene shrugged.  
  
“Yes, Eugene. _Nice_ things.” Varian nodded.  
  
“You know, it’s also the anniversary of _my_ death.” Eugene reminded them.  
  
“Yeah, but _you_ came back to life. No candle for you.” Varian stuck out his tongue.  
  
Eugene acted mock-offended and then they laughed a bit.  
  
“So…Gothel aside…what are we gonna do?” Lance asked. “I mean…treason, it’s…”  
  
“It’s only treason if they realize what happened. Unless, of course, aiding me at _all_ counts.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Oh, I think it counts. He was _pretty_ upset about you.” Cassandra assured him.  
  
“Well, then I guess you all get wanted posters.” Varian walked over to look out the window. “Nice.”  
  
“We need to get out of the Kingdom somehow.” Rapunzel said, frowning. “We need to follow the rocks.”  
  
“I could probably use alchemy to weaken the guard at the wall, but not while we have wounded. Besides, I want to know what Gothel knows about the Sundrop and the black rocks.” Varian said, turning to them.  
  
“Well…let’s hear more stories then, to pass the time!” Rapunzel suggested. “And, maybe I can tell some of my own!”  
  
Varian smiled. “If you’d like to.”  
  
Eugene walked over and helped Andrew stand. “I’m going to help Andrew clean up. You guys have fun.” He took him into another room.  
  
Varian walked over and started on another story.  
  
\--  
  
Rapunzel had escaped during the night. That new maid, Marian, was taken away with her, and Cassandra had _also_ vanished along with her travel clothes, and Rapunzel’s bars had been melted somehow. With bitterness, King Frederic realized that Lucas had been trying to tell him before, and he’d brushed it off, Marian was actually _Varian_. “Clever boy”, indeed.   
  
Shortly before Rapunzel’s escape, King Frederic had been having a bad case of, well, _honesty_. And he couldn’t stop, it _hurt_ to try to stop. On Nigel’s recommendation, he had been locked away until it subsided.  
  
Attempting to purge his system of the truth serum that Varian must’ve somehow gotten into his food had done nothing to help. He glared into his bathroom mirror, gazing at his haggard appearance. “ _Varian_ …” He growled.  
  
The boy had been nothing but trouble for _years_ , but he’d hoped that Quirin would have gotten a handle on his son. It _frustrated_ him that he didn’t, and now…now he was asking _too many questions_ , digging into holes he _shouldn’t_ be digging into, playing with fire and burning _everyone_ around him. He’d tried just keeping an _eye_ on him, but it wasn’t _enough_. Scaring him into compliance didn’t work, and now he was loose and…with his _daughter_.  
  
He slammed his fist on the sink, struggling to avoid speaking. “I should have just _killed_ him!” He said bitterly. “I thought that I could _spare_ him, get him to _calm down_ and _do_ as he was _told_ , be _compliant_ and _obedient_ , but he’s caused so much _trouble_. My _people_ no longer _trust_ me. My _daughter_ has turned _against_ me.” He gripped the sink tightly. “If our theory about him is correct, if he’s _truly_ of the dark, then we should _not_ have let him live this long. I should have just given the order to _get rid of him_ , but out of friendship and because I wanted him to grow to be a proper member of society, I chose to keep him in one place. And now…now he has taken _my daughter_ from me! That _cursed boy_!”  
  
He ran a hand down his face. “My poor little girl…taken away, led astray again. I must find her. I was unable to find the witch and give her the punishment she deserves, but I can find this boy and _bury him_.” He stepped back. “But…not as long as I am still… _too honest_. I should have seen this coming. I knew he had the formula, that he had moved his lab to an unknown location, but to think he would disguise as a maid and find a way to sneak it into my food is just…I did _not_ expect the dress.” He admitted. “I did not expect him to _actually_ resort to such measures. _Clearly_ , I underestimated him.”  
  
He sighed and walked out into the bedroom. “And now I am to remain in here until this… _honesty curse_ ends.”  
  
He walked over to stand at the window, looking out. “Where are you _hiding_ , boy? _Where did you take my daughter?_ ”  
  
\--  
  
“Alright, here we go!” Lance brought the cake over to the table, Cassandra moving the music box so he could put it down. “Make a wish, princess!”  
  
“Candles?” Rapunzel gasped. “When did you get all _this_?”  
  
“Hey, the Royal Guard doesn’t know that I’m on Varian’s side.” Eugene tapped his head. “On that note, I’m thinking I should make a reappearance tomorrow, claim to have been looking for you, act upset and infiltrate the castle for information on the King.”  
  
“Why tomorrow?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“I don’t want to be here for, uh, the _Gothel_ thing.” He admitted.  
  
Varian chuckled. “Well, I think that’s a good idea. We can even sell the lie by having you get found by one of the patrols, caught in one of my traps.”  
  
Eugene nodded. “Sounds good. So, Blondie, make a wish!”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, then closed her eyes and made a silent wish before she blew out the candles. The others clapped for her and gave her hugs before Lance started to cut up the cake.  
  
“Happy nineteenth birthday, Sunshine.” Eugene smiled. “Sorry it’s not the big bash that the castle was planning.”  
  
“No.” Rapunzel turned to Varian and Cassandra lighting paper lanterns that would float up to the ceiling. “It’s better.” She smiled, watching them float up. “I have all of my friends here, and that’s all I need.”  
  
Cassandra turned on the music box and Rapunzel and Eugene started to dance to it while Cassandra and Varian stood and watched.  
  
“Hey…” She looked at him. “…Thank you, really. I…I would have _never_ known about my real mother, if you hadn’t brought me here.”  
  
He chuckled. “And _I_ would’ve never known she had a daughter. Sorry I’ve been using your bed.”  
  
She shrugged. “ _I_ wasn’t using it. Besides, that’s a kid’s bed. I’m an adult now. And you cleaned up the old place and fixed my music box, you earned it.”  
  
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I think she’d like to have seen you as you are now.” He looked up at her with a smile. “I mean, aside from the insecurities, you’re a strong, dependable woman.”  
  
“Cass! Varian! Come dance with us!” Rapunzel called.  
  
Varian shrugged and offered her a hand. Cassandra smiled and took it before they went over to join the dance as the music box played.  
  
Lance smiled and walked over to bring Andrew some cake, rousing him from his rest. “Hey, you missed the candles.”  
  
“Sorry.” He smiled and accepted the cake. “I guess I was still tired.”  
  
“Sleep helps you heal.” Lance nodded.  
  
Andrew, with Eugene’s help, had trimmed his beard back to the way he liked it and tied back his hair in a ponytail and he was feeling a little bit more like himself and not…not the only prisoner in High-Security, the plaything of those cruel guards.  
  
Lance sat next to him, watching the other four dance.   
  
Andrew sighed. “…This _can’t_ be easy for her. Learning that her father is cruel, having to run from him like this.”  
  
Lance nodded. “But, she’s strong. She’s pushing through it.”  
  
Andrew nodded, smiling softly at Rapunzel’s smiling face.  
  
The music box came to an end and they stopped dancing to sit back down and grab the plates of cake that Lance had served for them to sit down and eat it.  
  
Tomorrow, they would worry about other things. Today, though, they would relax and enjoy a relatively peaceful birthday celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today, a party. Tomorrow? Also a party?


	8. Gothel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ceremony for Gothel brings an unexpected visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

Rapunzel sighed softly as she looked out the window, looking out into the night. Around this time, a year ago, she was going back to the tower with Gothel, thinking Eugene had traded her for a crown. She looked over at him fondly, a sad smile on her lips. Nothing could be further from the truth, she was deceived that night and then, the next morning…  
  
She turned towards where Varian was quietly working on his alchemy and sighed before walking over to stand next to him. “Hey, uh, can I ask a question?”  
  
“Sure.” He said, focusing on his alchemy.  
  
“What happened to your mother?” She asked. “You said she…’disappeared’?”  
  
Varian tensed a bit and Rapunzel winced. “Sorry, you don’t have to—”  
  
“She was taken from me by a woman named Donella. I was three years old when she came to see her. A day later, they left. Six months later, Donella returns alone, apologizes to my father while handing him something and leaves forever. Dad hid away whatever she gave him and after that there was a rule to never mention Donella.”  
  
“Apologized…?” Rapunzel breathed.  
  
“Wherever they went, my mom didn’t survive it.” He said grimly. “Or she was just unable to come home.” He closed an alchemy bomb after filling it and set it to the side with others. “After that, dad got very… _jumpy_ about alchemy, but it was all I had left of her. These goggles, these gloves, this apron, even this alchemy kit. They were all hers. I know _nothing else_ about her, so I cling to alchemy like a lifeline. Even though no one but Gothel believed in me.” He sighed, setting his hands flat on the table. “I thought alchemy could help…but it just hurt people. My father is encased in amber I created. I was _desperate_ for a solution. To make him proud of me…just once.”  
  
He wiped at his eyes. “Hey…speaking of absences, why didn’t you come sooner, after the storm?”  
  
“My dad kept me busy…and he lied that Old Corona was safe. Also, I stopped the storm, which was sent by an ancient sorcerer demon named Zhan Tiri, and accidentally released some of her followers. One of them _hypnotized_ me into nearly summoning the demon from its otherworldly prison, all because I was having trouble deciding things and my father gave me a big task I had to decide for. I…” She looked at him. “I couldn’t get your _pleas_ out of my head. But, my father assured me that all was fine. I didn’t think he would _lie_ to me…”  
  
He nodded. “Yeah…I didn’t think my father would lie to the King, either. But, maybe he did it because he _knew_ he already knew…and would do _nothing_ about it.” He sighed. “Wherever those black rocks are pointing…it’s the cause. And it might be the only way I can free my father.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Yeah…”  
  
He started to clean up his equipment. “You should get some sleep, Rapunzel. I’ll be going to bed soon.”  
  
“Well, then I can go to sleep after you do.” She grinned. “Or else you might stay up longer.”  
  
“Ah, you saw through my clever scheme.” He chuckled.  
  
“I’m too smart to be tricked!” She said triumphantly.  
  
“Well, we both know _that’s_ a lie.” He smirked.  
  
She gasped and lightly shoved him. “I know, but heeeeey!”  
  
He laughed and then went back to cleaning up. “I guess I’m kind of nervous about tomorrow.” He admitted. “Here, in this place, lighting a candle for her…I don’t know, it feels…a little bit…you know.”  
  
“Right?” She shrugged.  
  
“Like it might summon her from the dead.” He nodded.  
  
“Oohhh…” She nodded. “Well…if it happens, it happens, right? I mean, you’ve been saying you wanted to talk to her again.”  
  
“What did you wish for, anyway?” He looked at her.  
  
“Ah, no. Telling your wish jinxes it into not happening.” She wagged her finger at him.  
  
He shrugged. “Okay.” He went back to his cleaning.  
  
She glanced away. “…Okay, now _I’m_ worried.”  
  
He laughed.  
  
“We didn’t exactly part on good terms!” She clutched at her hair. “And when my hair came back, I had a nightmare about her…”  
  
“Was this before or after you learned you can’t heal anymore?” He asked, putting the clean equipment back.  
  
“Before.” She nodded.  
  
“That was a manifestation of your fear. Did you have any more after you found it?” He asked, walking past her.  
  
“No…but, I _did_ start having dreams about _you_ …” She admitted.  
  
He looked at her. “…About me?”  
  
She nodded. “You were with amber and black rocks and…it was weird.”  
  
He shrugged. “Guilt? Don’t know why you’d dream about the amber, though. Perhaps your hair comes with a form of precognition?” He looked thoughtful.  
  
“I don’t think so, I didn’t dream about anyone else.” She shook her head.  
  
“Hm…it’s funny. I had a dream about you, too. You were with your dad, and we were in the wilderness. I was with my amber-encased father, feeling…helpless. Black rocks appeared around us, and then I ran to you as you called my name.” He sighed. “That was after I sent the kite. I passed out, I guess. Too many late nights.”  
  
She walked over to him. “Varian…I’ve been thinking. My hair, the rocks, _you_ …don’t they all seem… _connected_ somehow?”  
  
“Connected?” His brow furrowed.  
  
She nodded. “These dreams _can’t_ just be strange coincidences, because _my_ dream was the same as _yours_ , only from MY side.”  
  
He shrugged. “I don’t know. My head’s starting to hurt, I’m going to bed.” He headed for the bedroom.  
  
“Alright. Sleep well.” She nodded.  
  
He waved as he went in, shutting the door behind him.  
  
She walked over and sat next to Eugene, curling up under the blanket with him with her head on his shoulder.  
  
\--  
  
The next afternoon, Varian and Eugene went out into the woods to set it up for Eugene to be found fighting Varian, only to be caught in a trap as he escaped. While waiting for Varian to return – very _anxiously_ , may she add? – Rapunzel and Cassandra set up the place for Gothel’s, uh, party. They set up candles around the buildings, closed the curtains, dimmed the lanterns and put pillows around a crate that they used as a little table, which they put another candle on as a central point. Lance prepared, according to Rapunzel, Gothel’s favored snack foods and then it was just a matter of waiting.  
  
And waiting…  
  
It was nighttime when Varian finally came back in, out of breath with tears in his clothes from, they suspected, arrows. “Varian!” Rapunzel went to him.  
  
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He brushed off her concern. “The plan worked; they think Eugene is on their side. He went with them back to the Castle.”  
  
“Your clothes—”  
  
“I said, I’m fine. They didn’t cut me, just my sleeve.” Varian assured her. “Easily patched up.” He locked the door and looked around. “Okay…looks like we’re doing this.”  
  
“You could change your mind.” Andrew remarked, fiddling with his necklace.  
  
“No.” Varian shook his head. “She deserves more than a passing thought.” He walked over and sat on a pillow, Cass, Rapunzel and Lance sitting on the others. Andrew stayed on the couch, watching them from a more comfortable seat.  
  
“Okay…so, we light the candles.” Rapunzel got up and went around the room lighting the candles while Varian got up to dim the lanterns. Then they came back and Rapunzel lit the final one before putting out the match.  
  
“Alright.” Varian nodded and sat down with Rapunzel taking her own seat. “Every year, dad and I do this for mom. Let’s hold hands.” He held out his hands and Rapunzel took one while Cassandra took the other and Lance took their free ones.  
  
“I feel a bit out of place.” Lance admitted. “I never met the woman.”  
  
“Well, you could sit it out.” Varian shrugged.  
  
“Nah, I’m already here.” Lance shrugged.  
  
“What do we do next?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“I guess I’ll take the lead, then. Usually dad does, so…” He cleared his throat. “Miss Gothel,” he started, “it’s been a full year since you left us. A year full of sorrows and woes. A year…” His voice trembled a bit. “It’s been hard. _Really_ hard, for me. Dad is trapped in amber and the Kingdom is a mess. I’ve been hunted by the King, just like _you_ were. I’m _still_ being hunted.” He looked towards Rapunzel. “I have Rapunzel with me, and your daughter Cassandra. We’re friends, which is…pretty cool. They’ve been a big help.”  
  
It wasn’t much different from standing at someone’s grave, Rapunzel realized. She wondered if this was what people did for a lost loved one that had no grave to mourn at?  
  
“And this is Lance, he’s another friend.” Varian went on. “Eugene was going to be here too, but he's undercover at the Castle now. Oh, Eugene is Flynn Rider. I just remembered that you wouldn’t actually know who ‘Eugene’ was, ha. Apparently you killed him or something? That must’ve been _wild_. Anyways, Rapunzel brought him back from the dead, somehow. Maybe you should ask her.”  
  
“H-Hello, Mother.” Rapunzel said awkwardly. “I-Is that okay? Should I have waited?”  
  
“It’s okay.” He nodded. “Go ahead and speak to her.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “Hello, Mother. It’s…it’s been a long time. I…I still miss you, even now. Even after…everything.” Her lips were trembling. “I know my real parents now…my mother is _so kind_ , but my father…my _father_ …” She tightened her grip on Varian’s and Lance’s hands a bit. “My father seemed so _good_ , so _kind_ , but he’s…he locked me in my room, in a _tower_ , he hunted down a _child_ , he’s been cruel and lied to me and it’s…it’s _worse_ than when I was living with _you_ , at least _you_ didn’t taunt me with thinking I was free to go outside and have friends and then _rip them away from me at the slightest provocation_!” She started to sob. “I _never_ thought that he’d be one of the men with pointy teeth you warned me about!”  
  
“Rapunzel…” Varian looked at her, his brow furrowed.  
  
“And now… _now_ I have these strange _black rocks_ that want me to follow them to some unknown place and I’m just so _lost_ , so _confused_ , the world outside is so _confusing_ and I…I _miss_ you!” Rapunzel went on, tears slipping down her cheeks.  
  
“Oh, Raps…” Cassandra said sympathetically.  
  
A wind blew through the building and the lights around them went out, leaving only the center one still lit. Lance whimpered a bit and the other three looked around in confusion. Andrew hummed with interest, not moving from his seat.  
  
“Well, I _did_ try to warn you, Rapunzel.”  
  
They all gasped and got up, letting go of each other to face a glowing figure leaning against the doorway.  
  
“Well, don’t look so _surprised_.” Gothel said, her voice echoing a bit. “You called for me _so earnestly_. I must admit, I am _pleased_ that you would call for me when you were feeling lost.” She moved towards them. “Look at you. You’ve all grown _so_ much.” She paused to move a hand over Varian’s cut sleeve, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“It was an arrow.” Varian explained. “I barely dodged it.”  
  
“Well, get that fixed.” She ran her fingers through his hair and then walked on to look at Cassandra. “Cassandra.”  
  
“Mother…” Cassandra breathed. “It’s…it’s really _you_ , I…”  
  
“You cut your hair.” She reached out to run her hands through it. “ _Do_ grow it out again, dear. I liked it long.”  
  
“O-Okay.” Cassandra nodded.  
  
“And Rapunzel,” Gothel turned to her, “my _poor_ little girl. How the world outside has _hurt_ you.” She gently stroked her hair and then cupped her chin in her hand. “I _did_ try to warn you, Rapunzel. I _tried_ to _protect_ you from people that would _never_ understand!”  
  
“You did.” Rapunzel nodded and she moved her hand away. “Mother, I…” She looked at Cassandra. “D-Do you mind if I…?”  
  
“It’s okay to call her that.” Cassandra smiled. “I don’t mind.”  
  
“Rapunzel, _what_ have I said about the mumbling?” Gothel sighed.  
  
“Sorry.” Rapunzel looked back at her. “Mother, I’ve missed you _so much_. I know it seems silly, after how we parted, but I have. You were _such_ a big part of my life, I…I can’t just _dismiss_ you from it.”  
  
“That’s understandable, dear.” She sighed. “So, the black rocks have come to Corona, have they? I’m sure Quirin tore his hair out over _that_ before his encasement.” She mused. “Almost sorry I missed it.”  
  
Varian chuckled.  
  
“Well, now you asked me for help, so I have come to help.” She looked at them.  
  
“Miss Gothel, you knew more about the Sundrop than _anyone_.” Varian said, stepping forward. “Can you help us? Do you know about these rocks?”  
  
“Those rocks are from the Moonstone in the Dark Kingdom, where it is heavily guarded by the Mad King.” Gothel explained. “I suppose your father has still told you nothing about it, Varian?”  
  
He shook his head. “What’s the Moonstone?”  
  
She clicked her tongue. “It is the Sundrop’s counterpart, of course. And I _suspect_ it is seeking out the Sundrop, as well as its human vessel.”  
  
“Human vessel?” Lance asked.  
  
She turned to him and he blushed. “Oh, uh, sorry, Miss Gothel. Wow, you’re more beautiful than I imagined.”  
  
“How kind. Yes, its human vessel.” She turned back to Rapunzel. “You’ve already met again and everything.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Oh, well…” She tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “You have met _before_ , you and Varian. You don’t remember it, because I made you forget on Quirin’s request. We thought it was best to keep you apart, you see.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Alittle under five years ago, Varian was beaten bloody by a furious farmer. I found him in the woods, terrified and hiding from the man, and took him up to the tower. There, I had Rapunzel heal him, and they spent some time together before I fed them and then his father came to collect Varian, asking me to make them forget.”  
  
“He _knew_ where I _was_?” Rapunzel breathed.  
  
“I kept his secret and he kept mine.” She held up her hands and her body started to glow green. “I think it is time for you two to _remember_.” She touched both Varian’s and Rapunzel’s foreheads.  
  
They both glowed green before stumbling back, holding their heads. Gothel waited patiently for them to recover while Lance and Cassandra fussed over them.  
  
“Raps! Are you okay?!” Cassandra cried.  
  
“Varian? Little buddy?” Lance asked.  
  
“I…” Varian slowly lowered his hand. “…I’m…” He looked at Rapunzel. “…We weren’t asleep. That time…”  
  
“We were made to forget?” Rapunzel breathed. “Your hair glowed—”  
  
“—when you used your magic on me!” Varian nodded.  
  
“You—” Rapunzel gasped. “You thought I was _crazy_!”  
  
“A _bit_ unhinged, but can you _blame_ me?” Varian shrugged.  
  
“We played chess! And—and we talked and stuff, and I showed you Pascal!” Rapunzel turned to the chameleon sitting with Andrew and Ruddiger. “You KNEW him!”  
  
Pascal shrugged.  
  
Gothel sighed. “ _Children_.”  
  
They turned to her. “So…so, _I’m_ the Moonstone’s…vessel?”  
  
She nodded. “Yes, dear. Just as Rapunzel is the Sundrop’s vessel. If you would like, my studies on the Sundrop and Moonstone are in a cave beneath this building. You may peruse them.”  
  
“The door.” Varian breathed.  
  
“As for the guards at the wall, you already _know_ how to get past them. What you _need_ , however, is transportation. It would _not_ be wise to go to the Dark Kingdom solely on foot, and even the horses would not be able to take you on their own. And I _highly_ doubt the Castle will provide transportation.”  
  
“Mother…uhm… _why_ did you glow green?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“The knowledge I have gained over the many years I have lived comes with a price. In this case, it was aligning myself with sadistic cultists and a demon.” She sighed. “On the other hand, I now have more freedom to move around. I never _could_ figure out the spirit form when I was alive. Thanks to this sweet little ceremony you set up for me, I was able to return as a spirit.” She patted Varian on the head. “Thank you, my little alchemist.”  
  
Varian blushed, smiling happily.  
  
“You were a Disciple of Zhan Tiri?” Cassandra asked.  
  
“Emphasis on the _past tense_ , dear. I left them when they decided to go and battle Lord Demanitus, I wanted _nothing_ to do with that.” She sighed. “All I wanted, all I _needed_ was my Flower.”  
  
“What…what about _me_?” Cassandra asked. “ _Why_ did you leave me to be taken?”  
  
“By the time I got home to you, they already had you surrounded. I could not safely reach you, and so I made the tough decision to cut the bridge. Oh, but I _watched_ you as you grew up. I frequently went to the Capital, hoping for a _glimpse_ of you as I did my shopping. And I _saw_ you, Cassandra. You were _lovely_. You _are_ lovely, but I still preferred the long hair.”  
  
“I’ll let it grow out.” Cassandra promised. “But…you _wanted_ me, right?”  
  
“Oh, Cassandra,” she walked over to her and cupped her face in her hands. “I wanted you _so much_ that I tried _many_ times to carry you. I could never manage it, but when I found the _perfect_ man, I _knew_ it had to be him. I used magic to _ensure_ that you would be that warrior’s child. And you _are_ , and you are _beautiful_ and _powerful, just_ like him.”  
  
“Who is my father?” Cassandra asked. “My _real_ one?”  
  
“You have not met him.” She moved back a bit and gestured towards the Wall of Corona. “He lives far beyond Corona, in the Great Tree near the Dark Kingdom. The warrior Hector, of the Dark Kingdom. Sworn to protect the Moonstone, he guards the way in like a wild animal.” She hummed a bit. “That’s not the _only_ way he’s like a wild animal, of course.”  
  
“Miss Gothel…” Varian looked weary. She laughed in response.  
  
“Hector…my _real_ father’s name is Hector, of the Dark Kingdom.” Cassandra said softly. “I _have_ to meet him.”  
  
“You will. The Moonstone calls and he will be there.” She assured her.  
  
Cassandra looked at her. “Mother…” Her eyes watered a bit. “Can I…hug you?”  
  
Gothel opened her arms. Cassandra moved forward and threw her arms around her and noticed she started to turn green as she did. Cassandra wrapped her arms around her solidly, without any chance of slipping through. “My dear girl…” She said softly, stroking her hair. “You’ve been so lonely without your mummy, haven’t you?”  
  
“U-Uhm…can we, also?” Rapunzel gestured to her and Varian.  
  
“Come along, then.” She moved one arm out and they both moved forward to hug her. “Honestly, I wanted _one_ and got _three_ children.”  
  
Rapunzel laughed a bit, burying her face in the woman’s shoulder. “I’ve missed you so muuuuch!”  
  
“There, there, Flower.” She smiled. “Mummy’s here. Mother will make sure everything is alright.”  
  
Varian sniffled. “I’ve missed you, too. So much…”  
  
“Well, I’m here now. And, thanks to your ceremony on the day of my death, I am here to stay.” She assured him.  
  
“I’m so glad!” He smiled up at her.  
  
Gothel smiled, rubbing his head.  
  
\--  
  
Eugene sighed as he sat in his room, rubbing his leg. When he said to “make it realistic”, he didn’t know that Varian would _actually_ kick him once he was in the goo to knock him down. He almost _pitied_ the guards. Almost.  
  
“What a _shame_ that you failed to rescue the Princess.” He heard a guard say, and he looked up at him. “Seeing as she’s _obviously_ under the boy’s control. Did you hear he disguised as a _maid_ to get to her?”  
  
“No, I didn’t.” Eugene got up. “What _else_ did I not hear?”  
  
“Oh, just that the King is locked away because he was slipped a truth serum and he doesn’t want to spill military secrets.” The guard walked over to him. “He’s a _very_ clever boy. But, I have to ask, what made you change your mind about helping him? You helped him in the ruins.”  
  
“The kid’s unstable.” He shook his head. “I didn’t _realize_ that until he was loose and terrorizing the citizens with _paint_.”  
  
“You wouldn’t happen to know where he’s hiding?” The guard asked.  
  
“No, or else I’d have gone there and taken Rapunzel instead of—”  
  
“You’re a _terrible_ liar.” The guard smirked and walked closer to him, patting his shoulder. “Work on that. My name is Lucas, by the way.”  
  
“Eugene.” His brow furrowed.  
  
“You hit me with a frying pan.” Lucas chuckled. “In case you were trying to recognize my voice.”  
  
“Oh—ohhh, right. You were dragging the kid behind a building.” Eugene nodded.  
  
“Orders are orders. I was keeping him away.” Lucas shrugged. “The hair reacting to the rocks, though? I did _not_ expect that. _Fascinating_.” He chuckled. “Well, work on your lies, because you _will_ be questioned.”  
  
“Why are you telling me this?” Eugene asked.  
  
“Because I want to see how far the boy’s little _game_ will go. That’s all.” He grinned, his icy-blue eyes flashing green briefly. “It’s just a game, to me. Well, welcome back, Eugene.” He walked out, closing the door behind him.  
  
“…Did his eyes just…glow?” Eugene frowned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They have a new ally now! Of sorts?  
> Eugene may have found something interesting of his own!
> 
> ((A/N: To see what they remembered, please go read "Forgotten First Meeting"!))


	9. Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Though technically dead, Gothel attempts to care for the motley crew living in her old home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (c) Disney

“You used to have me wind this thing for you over and over, even after I taught you how to do it yourself.” Gothel said as Cassandra turned the music box on.  
  
“Miss Gothel, uh, can you eat in your green form? Rapunzel told me these were your favorites, so…” Lance started plating up the food for everyone.  
  
“I…” She looked uncertain. “I never _asked_.” She admitted. “But, I _am_ more solid than my ghost form, so…”  
  
Lance offered her a plate. She changed into her green form and walked over to accept it, holding it in her hand for a bit to test it. Then she took a tentative bite of one of the treats.  
  
“Well, it didn’t fall through.” Varian nodded. “I wonder what it _is_ doing, though?”  
  
“Probably converting into magical energy.” She theorized.  
  
“…Right. ‘Magic’. Gotta get used to it actually existing.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m the Moonstone’s…vessel, whatever that means.”  
  
“It means you, like Rapunzel, are the human form of it.” Gothel explained.  
  
“So…I have…powers?” Varian asked.  
  
“Theoretically, yes. But, I only really bothered to learn the Sundrop incantation. You know, the one for healing.” Gothel said with a shrug. “Unlike the others, I didn’t have as much interest in the Moonstone’s power.”  
  
“Are there any other sun incantations?” Rapunzel asked. “Why do you think I can’t heal anymore? And why my hair is now indestructible?”  
  
“Well, Flower, I’m not sure. How did it grow out again?” She asked, turning to her.  
  
“I touched the black rocks.” Rapunzel clutched at her hair. “It was short up until then. And then…the black rocks started to grow everywhere…”  
  
“Hm.” She looked thoughtful, then cupped Varian’s streak in her hand. “Indestructible…” She looked at Rapunzel’s hair. “Indestructible. It is possible that the Moonstone has briefly taken over your body to protect you until the solar eclipse.”  
  
“What will happen then?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Well, for one thing, the Sundrop will be visible on your chest. According to our research, at least. For another, your powers will reset back to normal once it ends. When you cut your hair, you cut out the healing power and, since it was the only sun incantation you _know_ …”  
  
Rapunzel nodded. “I see.”  
  
Andrew groaned softly and Gothel looked over like she just noticed he was there. Rapunzel went over to check on him. “Who is that?” Gothel asked Varian.  
  
“That’s Andrew, he’s a Saporian.” Varian explained.  
  
“A Saporian with the Princess of Corona? My, Flower, you surprise me.” Gothel said thoughtfully.  
  
“Well, actually, it was my idea.” Varian admitted. “He had been in prison and was being tortured for information and when the black rocks attacked the castle, they broke open a hole in his cell and he escaped. I found him and offered him sanctuary.”  
  
“I see.” She set her plate down and walked over to look at Andrew closer, her green glow lighting up the darkness.  
  
“Oh, right.” Cassandra went around lighting the candles again.  
  
Andrew looked up at the woman, clutching at his necklace a bit. “…Yes?”  
  
“I just haven’t seen a Saporian in a long time.” She said thoughtfully. “How are you able to stomach being here with the Coronans?”  
  
“They helped me in my time of need instead of turning me in. I trust them.” Andrew replied.  
  
“That sounds like reason enough. Tell me, do your people still have air travel?” She asked curiously.  
  
“Air travel? What, like hot air balloons?” Rapunzel asked.  
  
“Yes, we do.” Andrew nodded.  
  
“Do you have a way of contacting your people?” Gothel asked.  
  
He glanced away. “It’s…in Vardaros.”  
  
“I see. So, as long as you can get to Vardaros, from there you can get other transportation, is that correct?” She smiled slyly.  
  
He nodded. “Yes, I believe I can.”  
  
“Good. Then, once you are feeling better and after we explored the caves, we will make our way to Vardaros and you will arrange for transportation for the rest of the journey.” She walked back to her plate.  
  
“…Yes, ma’am.” Andrew chuckled a bit. “As you wish.”  
  
“This is for your benefit as well, you know. They helped you, so you owe them a debt. As I recall, Saporians are rather fixated on debts and promises.” She looked at him.  
  
He nodded. “Even if that wasn’t the case, I would assist them.”  
  
Rapunzel smiled. “Thanks.”  
  
“We should be able to find a cart in Old Corona, after we take down the guards.” Varian said thoughtfully. “We can use that and the horses to get to Vardaros.”  
  
“What about Eugene?” Rapunzel asked. “Should we get him, first?”  
  
“It might be better to have a man on the inside.” Andrew shook his head. “You can keep in contact with him to know the situation at home.”  
  
Rapunzel clutched at her chest. “…You’re right.”  
  
“For now, it has gotten _very_ late.” Gothel said, looking at them all. “And as lovely as this party has been, it would not do for you to collapse from exhaustion when you are going through the caves below tomorrow.”  
  
“ _Please_ , I’ve been up for _days_ before and haven’t collapsed.” Varian said casually.  
  
“Something that I’m _sure_ you weren’t doing before your father was encased in amber.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “To bed, all of you.”  
  
“Can’t we stay up a _bit_ longer?” Rapunzel asked. “Just until all the food we made is eaten?”  
  
She looked at her sternly, then sighed. “Ohhh, very well. We would not want it to go to waste, after all. But after that, it is straight to bed for _all_ of you.”  
  
“Yes, Mother.” Cassandra and Rapunzel said in unison. Then Rapunzel felt a bit guilty, because she’d gotten so used to calling someone that wasn’t her mother “Mother” again. She hoped her real mother was alright. She probably missed her _so much_.  
  
Oh, Sun, what had she _done_? She walked over and stood at the window, clutching at her chest. Her mother was probably _heartbroken_ about her disappearance! And now she was with Gothel again; it was just like before!   
  
No, _not_ just like before. Because _Rapunzel_ had made the choice to leave _herself_ , she wasn’t taken away.  
  
“Having second thoughts, Flower?” Gothel walked up to her.  
  
Rapunzel looked at her. “I…I’m just…thinking of my…my mother. My _real_ one. She’s…she probably misses me _so much_.”  
  
“Oh, I imagine so, Rapunzel. But, you know that you cannot go back now. You will most likely be returning to her when this is all settled, so you can rest at ease with that. However, I would not advise sending her any messages. We do not want your father to track you down and arrest Varian or lock you up again, do we?”  
  
“No.” Rapunzel shook her head.  
  
“No, we do not.” Gothel gently cupped her chin in her hands. “It will be alright, Rapunzel. Just follow my advice, and everything will be all right. After all,” she smiled, “Mother knows best.”  
  
Rapunzel nodded, then stepped back and walked over to refill her plate with food.  
  
“Miss Gothel, do you want to see one of my newest creations?” Varian asked eagerly, going over to her with a bottle.  
  
“Oh? What is this?” She asked with delight.  
  
“It’s a truth serum!” Varian said proudly.  
  
Cassandra walked over to Rapunzel. “You alright?”  
  
“I just…” She sighed. “I’m _happy_ to see her again, I am. I just…wish she wasn’t so… _manipulative_ still.”  
  
“Mm. I’m still trying to get to know her again, so I’m just…you know, I’m trying not to _argue_ , but she’s kind of taking control of the situation, isn’t she?” Cassandra sighed, watching her and Varian interact. “Why can’t we be as… _relaxed_ around her as _Varian_ is?”  
  
“Maybe because we knew her differently. At least, _I_ did. I was her prized possession she kept locked away, Varian was the son of the guy she stayed with when she wasn’t with me in the tower. To think…that _whole_ time, she was with another kid. Another _family_.”  
  
“It’s a bit unfair to think about…but, what can we do? I mean…” Cassandra sighed, “it’ll probably get better as we travel together. Now that she doesn’t need your magic to stay young, she’ll probably treat us as well as she treats Varian. Yeah, that’s it. She just needs to spend more time with us, as people, and I’m sure that she’ll be less…uh…” she tugged at her hair, “critical.”  
  
“To be fair, she _did_ comment on his torn sleeve.” Rapunzel reminded her.  
  
“Which she is apparently about to fix for him.” Cassandra said, seeing Varian get pulled over to the side as Gothel grabbed a sewing kit and thread.  
  
Rapunzel smiled a bit. “Think he’d mind us calling him our little brother?”  
  
Cassandra shrugged. “We could try it. I mean…she’s practically _his_ mother, too.”  
  
“Who did this to you?” Gothel asked with a frown.  
  
“A creepy guard named Lucas.” Varian glanced away. “He was one of the men that were…hunting me.”  
  
“And he _hurt_ you like this?” She clicked her tongue.  
  
“It’s almost completely healed.” Varian insisted. “Besides, he hurt me _worse_ before and I recovered just fine!”  
  
“This is a point of concern, not something to just brush off.” Gothel said, going back to sewing his shirt. “Cassandra, bring some clean bandages to replace his.”  
  
“On it.” Cassandra got up and walked over to get the bandages.  
  
“Yeah, I know. But, I didn’t exactly have anyone to turn to. And he wasn’t really _that_ bad, until I went into the castle in disguise as a maid. He recognized me of course, the utter creep, and aggressively flirted with me. But, he didn’t turn me in, and I was able to achieve my goal.”  
  
Gothel finished sewing and stepped back. “Well, as long as you got the desired results.”  
  
Varian sighed. “Got Rapunzel out, but I couldn’t get the king to speak the truth before he was locked away following our escape.”  
  
“What a pity.” She hummed.  
  
Varian sighed, looking dejected. “Yeah.”  
  
“Hey, you got Rapunzel out and that’s what important.” Cassandra said as she came over and carefully unwrapped his bandages. She winced when she saw the bruise, which was bleeding slightly for some reason. “Should just be a few more days.” She said as she carefully cleaned it and wrapped it up.  
  
“Why is it _bleeding_?” Rapunzel asked with concern.  
  
“Gee, I dunno, maybe because of the arrow that cut my sleeve?” He reminded her.  
  
“You really _must_ make an effort to be more _careful_ , Varian.” Gothel scolded gently. “You are too _reckless_ sometimes.”  
  
“I know, I know.” He sighed heavily.  
  
“If you ‘know’, then _why_ does _this_ happen?” She gestured to his wound.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
Then again, Rapunzel considered, maybe being critical was just in Gothel’s nature and they’d be dealing with it all the way to the Dark Kingdom. Still, they could work with it. After all, she wasn’t _always_ critical! And, really, Rapunzel was feeling concerned about the wound, too! _Why_ did he not tell her about it?!   
  
She realized with a sting in her heart that Varian was probably defaulting to hiding his pain, seeing as the last time he tried to tell people he was in trouble, he was…Rapunzel had turned him away, feeling overwhelmed by everything. And then she’d gone and _abandoned_ him, blindly believing her father, and _Varian_ had paid the price.  
  
She reached into her bag and took out his letter, which she’d kept in there ever since. He sounded so frightened in it, and to think she _let that happen_ …  
  
“You should eat.” She heard Gothel saying. She looked up to see her offering Andrew some food.  
  
“My people don’t eat meat.” He shook his head.   
  
“Oh, well. A tart, then.” She left his side and went to get something else for him.  
  
“Mother, it’s alright. You don’t need to take care of all of us.” Cassandra said, getting up and walking over to her. “Why don’t you sit down and relax?”  
  
“I don’t _need_ rest, Cassandra, I am already _past_ that point.” She raised an eyebrow. “Therefore, since I am unable to sleep, I will just have to do what I can to make sure the rest of you are taken care of.”  
  
“R-Right.” Cassandra nodded. “Sorry.”  
  
“Your concern is…touching, though, dear.” She gently cupped her cheek. “Thank you.”  
  
Cassandra smiled brightly and watched as Gothel brought a plate of tarts to Andrew.  
  
Rapunzel looked a bit relieved. She had been worried, though she hated to admit it, though she would have been colder about how she phrased it. Maybe she really just wanted to take care of them, now that she had been brought back as a spirit?  
  
\--  
  
With the food finished off, they all made their wats to their sleeping places. Varian helped Andrew to the bedroom and then closed the door behind them and Cassandra and Rapunzel curled up on the couch together while Lance fell asleep on the floor. Gothel went around making sure they were all covered by blankets and tucked into bed and fast asleep and then slipped out into the night, passing the sleeping horses.  
  
There was one more member of their little…group she needed to check in on. Besides, this was safer than sending the owl, and he needed to know the situation. In her ghost form, she slipped by the guards with ease and into the castle, drifting around invisible to see where the ex-thief was living.   
  
As she passed though the hall, she was suddenly struck with a feeling of familiarity and she stopped, looking around. “That’s…but _how_?” She murmured, frowning. She turned a different direction and then looked around a corner.  
  
There were Corona guards talking. “His Majesty is _pissed_. He basically said that whoever _catches_ him can do whatever they _want_ to the brat, as long as he _suffers_.”  
  
“I suppose you intend for that to be _you_ , then, Lucas?” One of the others chuckled. “We all know how much you’ve been wanting to hurt him.”  
  
“Lucas…” Gothel whispered.  
  
“Well, can you _blame_ me? I mean, the kid is _beautiful_. I’m tempted to lock him up and keep him somewhere until he’s an adult, just to see how he looks. I hear locking kids up in towers for years is _in_ these days.” Lucas chuckled, then looked up and turned a sharp gaze to the side.  
  
Gothel quickly moved back around the corner, even though she was invisible.  
  
“What’s up?” One of the other guards asked.  
  
“Nothing…” He said, his eyes closing. “I just thought I heard something.”  
  
Gothel clutched at her chest, even though she had no heart to try to calm down. She knew him. _She knew him_. If that was the Lucas that had hurt Varian, and _also_ the same Lucas _she_ knew _centuries_ ago…when were they _unsealed_? How many were _out_? Come to think of it, Cassandra had recognized she used to be a Disciple of Zhan Tiri just by description, but hardly _anyone_ knew the old legends now. She would have to look into this matter. This…may complicate things.  
  
She quickly flew off to locate Flynn Rider—Eugene Fitzherbert, she corrected herself.   
  
She found the man lying on his bed, snoring away. She sighed and landed next to his bed, then grabbed a quill and paper from his desk and started to write a message for him. Once she was done, she folded it up and put it in his pocket before she flew off again, eager to be as far away from _Lucas_ as possible.  
  
Of _all_ the sadistic cultists to get involved with, did it _have_ to be _him_? Oh, Varian had the _worst_ luck.  
  
\--  
  
When she got back, Varian’s racoon was sitting in front of the door, staring up at her as she came through the door. She sighed and brushed her hair over her shoulder, trying not to look as rattled as she felt. “And why are you not with him, hm? Do you need to go outside?” She opened the door. “Go on, then.”  
  
The raccoon just continued to stare at her before he got up and went outside. She sighed and looked over at Pascal, who was fast asleep on Rapunzel’s shoulder. “…I’ve never approved of pets.” She muttered. “I suppose she saw that little rebellion as…an achievement.” She looked over at the raccoon as he came back in and then she closed the door. “Well, go on then. Back to your owner.”  
  
He flicked his tail at her and hopped up onto the counter, instead starting to do some alchemy. She just shook her head and distracted herself with something else.  
  
\--  
  
King Frederic sighed as he sipped at his tea, staring vacantly out the window. He missed his daughter, his wife, his people. Thanks to Varian’s accursed alchemy, he couldn’t be out there without the truth slipping from his lips whether he wanted it to or not. Was this his revenge for isolating him? Was this his plan? The boy was brilliant, but he used that brilliance in all the wrong ways.   
  
“Pardon, Your Majesty.” A voice said, and he looked over to see the Captain of the Guard approaching him. “I am sorry to report that we have not located the boy, but we have doubled the guard at the wall. If he intends to leave the Kingdom with the Princess, it will not be an easy feat.”  
  
“What about the Saporian?” King Frederic asked.  
  
“We have reason to believe that they may be together. He was not seen leaving the Kingdom, and he was too wounded to go far.” The Captain sighed. “Therefore, wherever the others are, so is he.”  
  
“And Eugene? Has he…said anything?” King Frederic asked.  
  
“He doesn’t know anything. As soon as Varian proven to be unstable, he tried to turn him in and was defeated by his alchemy.” The Captain sighed. “But, he is _determined_ to assist in his capture, though he has his misgivings about the guard Lucas being involved. He thinks that he’s…that he has _questionable intentions_ for the boy that are _unsuitable_ for his _age_.”  
  
“Varian is no longer a child, Captain. He potentially murdered his father and attacked the Kingdom. Whatever is done to him is not my concern, as long as I get my daughter back safely and he is kept far away from her.” King Frederic said sharply. “Resume the search. The longer he has her, the more danger she is in.”  
  
“…Yes, sir.” The Captain bowed at his waist. “We’ll double our efforts.”  
  
“Hurry.” He clenched his fists. “Bring my daughter _back_ , before Varian realizes what he is.”  
  
“What he is?” The Captain asked.  
  
King Frederic struggled to keep it in, but the truth serum pushed it out. “Varian is most likely the human vessel of the _thing_ responsible for these rocks. He is of the dark, a danger just by existing.”   
  
The Captain looked confused but nodded. “Alright, we will find him.” He swiftly left.  
  
King Frederic closed his eyes. “Hurry…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What lies in the caves below? What answers will her research show? And can they escape the Kingdom, with all the extra measures put in place?

**Author's Note:**

> Can a heart so broken learn to trust again?


End file.
